


Home is wherever I'm with you

by theaeblackthorn



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Car Sex, F/F, F/M, Face Sitting, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Marking, Panic Attack, Road Trips, Runaway, Sexual Assault (inappropriate touching), Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-10
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-20 18:24:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 74,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/588346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theaeblackthorn/pseuds/theaeblackthorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sheriff Stilinski is killed in a liquor store robbery gone wrong, Stiles ends up in a foster home. He lasts about three months before he realises this is seriously not going to work out and he runs away.</p><p>Derek and Laura Hale have just lost their whole family in the fire, they've no idea what to do or where to go, or when someone is going to come back and finish the job. Laura decides to get out of Beacon Hills as quickly as she can, she just didn't expect they'd be taking someone extra with them. </p><p>Or, the one where four walls do not make a home. </p><p>AU where Stiles is an orphan and runs away with Derek and Laura.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly a massive, massive, massive thank you to [Slumber](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber) who not only held my hand, but also beta'd this beast. And also [ingberry](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ingberry/pseuds/ingberry) who managed to put up with me when I flailed at her over this.
> 
> So, I slightly had this idea and tried to write a prompt for the kinkmeme, and then, I realised I'd actually written the outline for the fic instead of a prompt and decided to write it instead. 
> 
> Pairings are for pairings that will show up further along in the fic. Rating is for a future part as well. Part two is almost complete and the plans for part three and four are there, just got to be written. \o/ 
> 
> Warnings may be added as we go along, there shouldn't be anything too out there though. There will be some slightly underage Sterek, but Stiles will be over 16. 
> 
> Warning for this part: panic attack.

It's the shittiest weather Stiles had ever been out in; it's rainy, it's windy, and the orangey light of the street lamps leeched the colors from everything in the motel parking lot. He pulled at his hood to stop it slipping off in the wind and adjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder. There was the small chance he should have thought his plan through a tiny bit better, maybe.

School had let out and all Stiles could think was that he _couldn't_ go back there, he didn't want to go back to the room he shared with the other boys. They hated him and he didn't blame them at all. They'd had a quiet dorm and suddenly there he was, this stupid kid that lay awake all night fidgeting half the time and woke the whole room with panic attacks the other half. 

He hadn't been able to sleep in days; he'd close his eyes and he just couldn't stop thinking about his parents. He'd start focusing on the sheets to distract himself, which would make him miss the smell and feel of his own sheets, which would bring that pain in his chest that made him want _home_. 

Stiles stamped down on any thoughts of home before they brought on another stupid panic attack. The motel parking lot didn't have many cars in it and Stiles had already checked the doors on most of them. The plan had been to go to the motel on the edge of Beacon Hills, sneak into a car, stay hidden, and see how far away from here he could get. 

Admittedly, that was as much of the plan as there was, and he hadn't counted on how long it would take for him to walk all the way out here. By the time he'd arrived it was dark and a storm had rolled in. He'd been planning to hang around and try to catch someone as they were packing their car, but it was far too late for that, he'd have to wait for the morning as people were leaving. There was no shelter nearby to keep out of the rain and Stiles was desperately praying someone had left their car unlocked. 

So far he'd had absolutely zero luck at finding an open car and he'd checked all of those in the lot. Crawling under one of the SUVs was looking like the best option; it'd be mostly out of the rain if not the wind. Just as he was deciding underneath which SUV was driest he spotted the black sports car sitting in the shadows a little distance from the rest of the cars. 

Stiles was already soaked to the bone; it couldn't hurt to just check out one more car. He walked over to the car, kicking off a plastic bag the wind blew into his legs. He tried the door of the car, a Camaro, and a smile broke out on his face. The car wasn't just open; someone had left a blanket folded up on the back seat too. He didn't know who would be crazy enough to leave such a lovely car unlocked but right now he really didn't care. 

Climbing onto the back seat, Stiles stripped out of his sodden hoodie and tee and wrapped the blanket around him. All he had to do was wait for the morning to come and try to find somewhere in this car he wouldn't be noticed-- maybe the trunk because there certainly wasn't enough space in the back of the car. Maybe the car's owners weren't even leaving the county in the morning. He'd have to get up, hang around and see if he could overhear who was heading somewhere that far away from Beacon Hills. 

Stiles shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around him. The windows of the Camaro were starting to fog up as a drenched Stiles sat in the car. He hoped no one came out to check because it would be obvious in an instant someone was in the car. Well, he looked at it this way: he was keeping the car safe from any potential thieves, as the owners had been stupid enough to leave it unlocked. 

Stiles never meant to fall asleep, but he was so tired after walking out to the motel in the weather that he was asleep within minutes. 

*

Derek had had better mornings. Shit, Derek had had better years. Today was the day they were leaving Beacon Hills, the only place he had ever called home. Laura was worried that whoever set the fire would be back to finish the job and Derek didn't disagree with her. He didn't care if they got him, but what if they got Laura? The safest thing would be to get the hell out of Beacon Hills and never look back. 

As soon as Derek thought that he felt guilty for Uncle Peter. They were leaving the town and therefore they were leaving him behind. 

Laura, like Derek himself, had mostly been silent since they'd been informed their family was dead, their house burnt and their home most definitely gone. It had been three weeks since Derek had come home from practice and smelled smoke and strangers from the edge of Hale land. 

Derek figured leaving meant Laura had finally given up on Peter. The first thing she'd done every day since the fire was visit their uncle in Beacon Hills Hospital to see if there was any sign he was still in there. Yesterday, the staff had let her know they'd be moving him into long term care; they didn't understand how he was still alive, but he was. They didn't seem to hold any hope that he'd wake up soon and didn't want to give the family false expectations.

She'd come home reeking of sadness and explained what had happened. "We're not strong enough to defend ourselves, we're not even a pack right now, we need to leave here, just, keep moving. So the people who did it can't catch up and finish the job. There's nothing I can do for Peter, all I can do is try to keep us safe, Derek."

Laura was leaving Peter to possibly get killed by the hunters and Derek was letting her. She was doing it to keep them safe, to keep him safe. He was too much of a coward to tell Laura that it was his fault. He just wanted her out of Beacon Hills. If he couldn't save Peter, he could at least make sure Laura was as far away and as safe as possible. She could hate him later, but she'd be alive to hate him. That's what was important. 

So Derek didn't say anything. Derek hadn't said anything in days; he merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. What was he supposed to say to Laura? 'I know who did this, I know where to find her, but it's _all_ my fault.’ Derek could barely take thinking about it, what if Laura cast him out for killing them? What if Laura went up against Kate and lost? What if Laura went up against Kate and won? What if...

Derek took a deep breath and just... stopped. There was nothing to pack but the spare set of clothes one of the deputies had lent him. He grabbed his bag and the keys to the Camaro and headed out to put his bag in the car. It was a cold morning and the car was probably warmer than the motel room anyway. 

As Derek headed towards the exit the bathroom door opened and Laura emerged, already dressed and drying her hair with a small, off-white motel towel. 

"Hey, you want to grab breakfast before we hit the road?" Laura asked, dropping the towel into her bag. They had nothing; even a shitty motel towel that faintly smelled of other people and other things was something at least. 

Derek shrugged; it didn't matter to him. 

Laura glanced at him. "Lets get some miles behind us, we can stop and grab something once we're on our way."

She reached into the make-up bag she'd had with her at school that day everything burnt, withdrawing a small hairbrush and brushing her hair. Derek took it as dismissal and continued to head towards the car. 

*

Derek stopped as soon as he reached the edge of the parking lot. He could hear the steady heartbeat of someone in the car. Someone in _their car_. His first thought was to panic. How could someone be waiting for them in the car? How would they even plan to attack him from there? How did they get into the car? And then Derek realized that the heartbeat was clearly of a sleeping child’s. 

...what the hell was a sleeping child doing in Uncle Peter's car? Derek started walking towards the car, his fear replaced by agitation and annoyance. What little shit had decided to break into _their_ car? How had they even gotten in there? 

As he approached the car he could see the kid huddled under the blanket they kept on the backseat. Derek's anger spiked. That blanket was-- it was the last thing they had that smelled like _pack_ , like home. There was no ash clinging to the blanket, just the soft lingering smell of Alice, Peter's daughter, and a fainter hint of the rest of his family. 

Derek yanked the door opened and snarled. "What do you think you're doing in our car?!" He reached in and pulled the blanket off the startled kid. 

Derek held the blanket close to himself; the smell of pack was still there, but there was this kid's stupid scent all over it. 

"Can you talk? Can you hear me? I said, what the hell are you doing in our car?" Nothing. Nada. The kid was just sitting there staring at him. 

When the kid continued to say nothing, he reached over and grabbed him to pull him out of the car. 

That seemed to snap the boy out of the daze he was in, prompting him into a panicked ramble. "No, wait! I just-- let me get my stuff, please let me get my stuff and I'll get right out of your way. I just-- it was raining last night and I couldn't remember..." He grabbed his wet clothes and backpack and started getting out of the car as he continued. "...um, I couldn't remember what room my, uh, aunt was staying in. And your car was unlocked and I thought in the daylight it'd be easier to find it and, uh, now it's daylight so..." 

He left the car with such speed and lack of any coordination that he stumbled straight onto the tarmac next to the car. That wasn't what got Derek's attention though; the kid's heartbeat had sped up and skipped in the way that clearly shouted **lies, lies, I am telling lies**. 

The kid was on the ground and Derek could smell he'd scraped his palms in the fall, but that didn't seem to stop him talking as he bounced to his feet. "I just-- she's here I'm sure she's worried about me, so I better be going, to my aunt who is worried and... your hand is on my arm. Let go of my arm." He tried to wrench his arm out of Derek's grasp. 

Derek kept one hand holding the blanket and used the other to hold onto the kid's arm to stop him running off. "Stop. Slow down and take a breath and then tell me the real reason you were in my car. Did someone send you?"

The kid blinked and Derek could see another ramble bubbling to the surface. "Okay, let’s try this a different way. What's your name? Tell me the truth; I'll know if you're lying."

"My name's Scott."

Derek rolled his eyes as he listened to the kid's heart. "I don't think it is. Let’s try this again."

"Yes it is!" Frowning, the kid tried to pull away but Derek's grip on his arm just tightened. Derek could see the kid thinking there was no way he could tell that wasn't his real name. 

 

"Kid, seriously, stop this. Your name isn't Scott."

"You don't know that! You can't prove it; let me go. I didn't break anything! If anything I stopped someone from stealing your car! You know you left it _unlocked_ last night. I mean, I know this isn't exactly LA, but you've got a really nice car."

Derek grimaced. "We didn't leave the car unlocked."

"Um, yeah, yeah you did dude." Steady heartbeat-- the kid was telling the truth. Shit, they left the car unlocked last night. Laura left the car unlocked. 

As Derek was about to return to questioning the kid he heard Laura approach and the disbelief in her voice as she said, _"Derek, are you attacking an eight-year old kid?!"_

*

Laura couldn't believe it; she'd been trying to plait her hair so it wouldn't be blown to crap by the wind in the car when she heard Derek talking to someone in the parking lot. She thought nothing of it; the distant realization that Derek was talking made her pleased, until she heard his growl and thought, _oh shit what if they came for Derek too_.

She dropped the hair band and ran straight out of the room, leaving her braid unravelling as she ran, only to stop when she saw Derek threatening a scrawny kid across the lot. He couldn't have been more than eight years old; he was half dressed, wet and _absolutely terrified_.

Laura carried on walking over to the pair and repeated in stunned disbelief, "Seriously, are you attacking an eight-year-old?"

The smell of terror coming off of the kid rose at her approach, but to her surprise he looked straight at her and said, "Hey! I'm not eight! I'm ten, nearly eleven! And-- and I was just leaving, honest, if he'd let. Go. Of. Me." The kid punctuated each of the last words with an attempt to tug his arm out of Derek's grip. 

Derek growled a bit more and Laura could see a hint of blue in his eyes. She shot him a filthy look. "He's just a _human_ kid, Derek, let’s keep calm, alright?" His eyes returned to normal and he had the grace to look a little ashamed. Good. Derek couldn't lose control. They couldn't afford for him to lose control. 

"So, what the hell happened?"

"He says his name is Scott, but he's lying. I found him asleep in the car; he'd been sleeping under the blanket, Laura, _the blanket_." Laura's eyes softened as she took in the blanket Derek was clutching his hand. Of course it was the blanket; he'd been treating it like the holy grail since the fire. He'd actually cried when they'd gotten a key cut for Uncle Peter's car and found it in the back seat. If she tried to touch it he growled at her sometimes, looking a bit embarrassed that he'd let the growl out. Hell, he'd even growled when she suggest they bring it into the motel room so he could get some fucking sleep. 

The smell of pack would have been enough to give Derek a couple of nights of restful sleep but he wouldn't. He left it on the back seat and every now and then when he thought she wasn't looking she saw him pick it up, sniff it, take in the scent of pack and home and everything that they didn't have anymore. 

Now it made sense-- some poor kid trying to get out of the rain had found the car unlocked and slept in the blanket until Derek found him and gone fucking insane. She knew Derek needed time and space to deal with this, but she couldn't let an innocent child get caught up in Derek's pain. She'd let him do whatever he wanted as long as it didn't compromise their safety.  
This? This compromised their safety. 

"Okay Derek, put the kid on the seat. Kid, sit down and give us your name so we can stop calling you 'kid'." She saw the kid about to open his mouth to lie again and she added, "Your real name."

* 

Stiles let himself be picked up and dropped onto the passenger seat of the Camaro. The growly guy then walked off with the blanket towards the trunk of the car. 

He looked up at the lady that had come out and his mind jumped, connections firing. Derek. Laura. These were the Hales. Crap, how had he gotten into the car of the freaking _Hales_? The fire was the only thing in town anyone talked about; it had completely taken over the news of the death of the town's sheriff and Stiles was almost glad for that. People stopped staring at him with pity and redirected all of it towards the Hales. He was old news and he kinda liked it that way. 

But that wasn't the point; how the heck did these people know his name wasn't Scott? Maybe if he just... talked enough to distract them they'd let him go. "You're... are you..." He stopped. He didn't like it when people brought up his Dad and he really didn't want to bring up the fire to distract them. The only other option he could think of was to tell them the truth, but how could he trust them? They'd just take him back and he'd be stuck there again, except-- maybe they'd understand. He didn't have much left and trusting them seemed like the best option. 

Stiles sighed. "I'm Stiles. Stiles Stilinski."

The look of pity that immediately filled Laura's eyes made Stiles see red. He _hated_ people looking at him like that. He didn't need their pity. He could take care of himself. He just-- he really needed to get the hell out of Beacon Hills and he was doing that. That was taking care of himself. 

*

Well hell, this was something Laura wasn't expecting: the sheriff's kid was sitting in their car and it clicked. The kid—Stiles-- must be running away. 

At her look she saw an angry scowl break out on Stiles' face and she recognized it immediately. It was identical to the look that appeared on Derek's face whenever someone in town offered their condolences. 

"Don't look at me like that! I don't need your pity! I can take care of myself." 

She heard a snort from behind her; Derek had come back from putting the blanket and his bag in the trunk. "Yeah kid, you really look like you can take care of yourself. You just spent the night sleeping in the back of our car in soaking wet clothes."

Stiles redirected his scowl toward Derek and he scrambled out of the car to face him. "Yeah well, at least I didn't go crazy over **a blanket**."

And whoa, suddenly it was something Laura needed to break up. Stiles was still scowling at Derek, Derek's eyes were flashing blue, and she could feel his wolf just under the surface. 

Laura whacked Derek on the side before moving and putting an arm around Stiles. "Calm down. None of this. Stiles, you're too young to just go off on your own and someone's going to be missing you."

Stiles shrugged but he leaned slightly into her touch; he was shivering from the cold morning. "There was-- I mean, I haven't got any family left. So they put me into a foster home, except I-- I'm just an extra pain for everyone there. They'll be happy I'm gone. Please, just-- I know I've got to go back in the system, but-- I thought maybe a county or two over? Just so I can get a different place, different people." 

Laura's heart ached; she'd lost it all, but she still had Derek. Imagine if she'd had no one after the fire. Imagine if Derek had no one. But the kid couldn't come with them; that'd be kidnapping and Stiles was just a child-- it probably wasn't as bad as he thought. 

"Stiles, we can't just take you with us, you've got to go back and give it a chance; the people just want to help you."

Stiles, even though he was still shivering, pulled away from Laura. "You don't understand; it's really not going to get better. I've been there months; they won't give me my pills and I keep having these stupid panic attacks and all the other kids just hate me, and I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to share a room with someone like me either."

As Laura was figuring out how to reply Derek spoke up. "What do you mean they won't give you your pills?" 

Laura listened to Derek's heart. Gone was the faster beat from his anger. She glanced at her brother to see curiosity all over his face. 

"I have ADHD and panic attacks and I _know_ my meds are being prescribed to me and I still see the doctor and I tried to tell him but they all keep calling it a cry for attention and _no one will listen to me_. I'm not stupid enough to think I can survive on the streets. I just want somewhere new. I'll go right into the police station and let them take me into care."

Derek's heartbeat had sped up; whether he was angry again at the situation or Stiles Laura didn't know. "They're just going to look at you and realize who you are and send you back. You know that, right?"

Stiles shrugged. "I've got to try. I just want a fresh start; I don't want everyone looking at me thinking, 'poor Stiles Stilinski; cancer got his mom and a stupid liquor store robber got his dad.’ I don't want to have to see all the places and remember _them_. I just want out of here."

And hell, Laura could get that; she was pretty sure Derek could get that too. Besides, if they took him down to the station there would be paperwork and questions and now that they'd decided to leave Beacon Hills, Laura just wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. 

When she looked at her brother she found him staring at her with a pleading look. She could see that Derek had realized the kid wasn't a hunter, wasn't there to hurt them; he was just someone else who had been royally fucked over by the people in this world. 

"Laura, it's not far to Oregon, maybe Washington? It wouldn't hurt really, we could just..." 

If Stiles had her brother talking, interacting, caring about something then hell, that definitely sealed it. "Yeah, we'll just-- only a state or two. He won't be with us for more than a couple of days."

She could feel Stiles' joy as he realized they were agreeing to take him with them. "Well, Derek, you better get your spare shirt out for the kid and something for him to clean his cut palms with. And maybe grab a blanket from the room. It'd be pretty shitty to let him freeze to death now."

Stiles threw his arms around her in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Honestly, it won't be more than a day or two. I promise and I'll do everything to be quiet and I won't..."

Laura interrupted him, "Hey, Stiles? Just get in the car, I'll grab my bag and we can go."

*

Breakfast was a drive-through. There'd been a slight bump when Derek pulled out his spare t-shirt and Stiles took one look at the 'BEACON HILLS POLICE DEPARTMENT' written all over the front, his face falling. Before Laura could say anything Derek already offered Stiles the black hoodie he was wearing instead.

He’d handed it over with a simple, "It'll be warmer for you anyway."

That had left Stiles curled up on the back seat wearing Derek's oversized hoodie and covered in the motel's blanket. His soaked clothes had been dumped in the trunk of the Camaro, to try and dry in the motel later that night. 

They were at the order station and Derek had asked for a suitably large but maybe ridiculous by normal standards order and Laura had done the same. She turned to ask Stiles what he wanted only to receive a small "I'm not hungry."

She could hear the rumble of his stomach. "Stiles, it's fine. What do you want?"

Stiles looked torn, like he felt he'd asked enough by asking for the ride in the first place. "Seriously, Stiles, come on."

He shook his head again. "I'm fine."

Laura rolled her eyes. "And one regular burger meal, with curly fries. You're gonna be with us a couple of days, Stiles, you can't just not eat." 

There was a pause and then a quiet, "Thanks, Laura" from the back seat. 

*

Food most definitely perked Stiles up. Derek had never seen anyone stuff so many curly fries into their mouth at once as Stiles did. He got that the kid was probably pretty hungry, but _seriously_. 

"You're going to choke if you eat them like that."

Stiles rolled his eyes and attempted to reply around a mouthful of curly fries. "No I won't. I always eat my curly fries like this." He swallowed the curly fries and gulped a good mouthful of his drink before asking, "Where are you guys heading?"

Derek looked to Laura, because honestly he had no idea where the hell they were going. 

Stiles saw the confusion on Derek's face, "What, you don't know? How can you not know where you're going?" 

Derek gave Stiles a very pointed look. 

"Hey! I didn't get much choice in the matter. You guys are driving; you can pick where you're going!"

Derek shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're just leaving Beacon Hills. Laura knows where we're going."

Laura finally joined the conversation. "We're heading north; I thought maybe Oregon? Somewhere quiet with some woodland, just for a bit." 

Stiles nodded and Derek could see him thinking about Oregon. "I think, if you don't mind taking me that far, I could like Oregon? I figure it'll be harder to send me back across state lines."

"Yeah, that's pretty well thought out, actually, considering how little thought you put into the rest of your plan," Derek agreed. 

"Hey! I put a lot of thought into that plan. It just... you know, took a little while to get to the motel. And how was I to know it was going to rain?" 

Derek snorted. "You could have brought some food with you, or waited until it wasn't the middle of winter, or checked the weather, or hell, just _brought a jacket with you_."

Stiles huffed indignantly. "Hey, at least I didn't just eat _four burgers_. Who even does that?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "That's the best you've got? You can do better." 

They bickered for a few more minutes until Laura let out a low chuckle. Derek froze. 

Laura hadn't laughed, not even done something as small as a chuckle since the fire. He felt himself smiling before he felt the pain seize around his heart. He didn't deserve to smile; he shouldn't be happy when he'd killed his family. He didn't deserve to be happy and if the kid was making him forget about the fire, even for a minute then the sooner he went away the better. Derek didn't deserve to forget about the fire; they'd drop Stiles off at the first town they stopped at over the state line. And that would be that. 

*

Stiles fell asleep before they even made it onto the I-5 and they let him sleep. 

Derek and Laura had gotten quite used to sitting in silence since the fire, and before Stiles had joined them, Derek had expected a silent drive, but now there was this kid in the back that couldn’t stay quiet even when he was asleep. 

Currently Stiles was dream-flattering a girl called Lydia; all Derek could catch were murmurings about perfect strawberry blonde hair. He twitched a little and curled himself more fully into the blanket. Derek peered into the rearview mirror to try and see how the kid had managed to fit himself onto the back seat. Camaros weren't exactly designed for ten-year-old boys to sleep in.

"I thought we'd drive until about five and then look for a motel for the night." 

Derek didn't reply; he didn't need to. Laura was the alpha and he'd follow her; he didn't even care where they went. 

Laura carried on as if he'd replied. "Tomorrow we can go shopping for some new clothes for us to wear. The kid's got nothing, and neither have we. We should have done it weeks ago. I know we're dropping him off tomorrow, or the day after, but can't hurt to get him some clothes as well." 

Buying new clothes felt like moving on, but, he guessed Laura was right. It wasn't like they could live with only two sets of clothes. Especially not when the other set consisted of odds and ends the officers in the department gave them when they dropped them off at the motel. 

"We'll probably make it as far as Bend tonight. We can pick up a motel on the outskirts, then we'll go shopping and drop the kid off in the afternoon."

Laura paused as if she were waiting for a response. Derek didn't have anything to say; he didn't care, honestly. He didn't care. Laura let out a sigh and turned the radio on low. 

*

Stiles woke up just after they crossed the state line and stayed awake for the rest of the drive. He tried a few times to talk to Derek or Laura, but Derek quite apparently didn't feel like talking this afternoon and while talking to Laura was nice, he got the feeling he was starting to annoy Derek, so he sank back into silence. Lunch was another drive-through, but eaten without the same warm feeling as breakfast. There wasn't any more conversation between himself and Derek, and Laura didn't seem quite so inclined to join in.

It was dark by the time they pulled into a motel, even though it was only early evening. Laura left Derek and Stiles in the car while she went inside to sort out a room. 

"Stupid question, but can I have my pants back now? It looks even colder out there than in Beacon Hills, which figures I guess, because we're further north, but seriously, my sneakers as well? I know they'll still be wet but I don't want to walk on the freezing, hard tarmac with no shoes or socks..."

Derek huffed and that was it for a response, apparently. He couldn't ignore Stiles when there was no one else to answer the question, right? Right? Stiles tried again. "Come on Derek, gimme my shoes. I can go pants-less, but not shoes-less. Heh, shoes-less. Is that even right?"

Derek was saved from having to reply by Laura returning to the car. "Come on boys, we've got ourselves a room. Derek, just carry the kid in, no point him putting on those wet clothes for a two-minute walk. We're in room nine. I'll grab the bags."

Derek glared at his sister while Stiles grinned up at her. "Thanks, Laura! Derek, carry me!" 

*

Stiles had never been in a motel room before and the way this one was decorated just made his eyes hurt. There were bright cyan walls and lime green carpets, or at least, under the grime he thought they were supposed to be lime green. Who would even think this was a good idea? 

Derek dropped Stiles down as soon as they entered the room. Laura followed just behind them with the bags, Laura and Derek's duffel bag, and Stiles' battered backpack. At least they didn't have much crap to unload from the car? 

The room was like an ice box. Stiles pulled the blanket he'd spent the day curled up in closer around him. "It's freezing! How are you guys not freezing?"

Laura and Derek, both standing there in t-shirts, looked at him and shrugged. It was Laura that offered, "Hales are pretty good with the cold." She grinned at her brother as if they shared a secret. Derek only managed the slightest hint of a smile in return. 

Laura sighed again. "I'll turn on the heat for you. Derek, turn the TV on and see if there's anything good on."

As they both moved to get on with their tasks Stiles took in the room again. There was only one bed, a double in the center of the room. That was weird; normally people had their own beds, right? Brothers and sisters didn't usually sleep together in the same bed, he was sure they didn't. Either way there was definitely no room for Stiles, which, that figures, he couldn't expect Laura to shell out for an extra bed or cot just for him. 

Derek had turned the TV onto some shitty sitcom and flopped down on the bed. The room had a small table and chair in one corner where Laura had sat down and was looking over the road map. He guessed she was looking for a place to drop Stiles off tomorrow. 

Stiles stood there and tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. He guessed he was supposed to sit down and just watch TV. Laura or Derek had already laid out his damp clothes to dry over the heater in the room. 

Stiles looked about for somewhere he could sit, but the options pretty much seemed like the floor or the bed. Derek was sprawled over a large part of the bed and he didn't figure Derek for the type that liked to share things. Stiles moved over to the side of the bed and sank down onto the grotty carpet and fixed his gaze to the TV. 

He remembered watching this show with his dad. Police shifts didn't always work well with being a single parent to a young child. Stiles was used to being put to bed by the sitter and being woken up by her in the morning, but he'd learned to wait upstairs in bed until he heard his dad's cruiser in the driveway, the keys in the lock and the quiet sound of the TV being turned on. Stiles would wait until his dad had settled in the living room before he'd creep downstairs to watch late-night sitcoms with him. 

As soon as his dad saw him he'd get a quiet _'You should be asleep, kiddo.'_ Stiles would nod and climb onto the sofa to sit beside him. He'd still be wearing his uniform and Stiles would be able to smell the lingering hints of the fast food he'd had for lunch. His dad had never made him go back to bed, just let him curl into him on the sofa until he fell asleep. 

Stiles heard an irritated sigh from the bed before he heard Derek say, "Don't be stupid, come up on the bed, Stiles. That carpet smells absolutely filthy; you don't want to be sitting on that. Not that the bed smells much better." 

Stiles didn't have to be told twice. He scrambled up onto the bed and sat as far across as he could from Derek. He'd promised they'd barely notice he was with them and he meant it. Stiles looked at the remote in Derek's hand and asked, "Can we watch something different?"

"You don't like _Less Than Perfect_?" 

All Stiles could think about was his dad and the sofa and... "It's not that-- just, can't we watch something else?" 

"Why? There's not going to be much on and if you don't not like it..." Derek shrugged as if to say, 'then why the hell can't we watch it?' 

 

"I just, can't we..." Stiles could feel the room spinning and his heart pounding in his chest; he was never going to watch this show with his dad again, he was never going to fall asleep curled into his dad, he was never going to sit on their sofa, in their front room, he was never going to-- his chest hurt and he was never going to wake up in his bed again, he was never going to wake up to his dad asleep on the sofa again, get to hear his dad's cruiser pull into drive and know he was home. 

Stiles was distantly aware of the TV being turned off. He couldn't breathe. His dad was gone and anything that they might have done was gone, the house was gone, his mom was gone everything was gone and Stiles was alone. Stiles had absolutely nothing. There was no one left in this world that care if Stiles lived or died and--

Stiles felt the bed move and someone sit next to him; he could hear a voice telling him to _breathe, Stiles, breathe..._. But he couldn't; he couldn't catch his breath and the room was spinning faster. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped tightly onto the blanket that was still around him.

 _Come on Stiles, just breathe, in, and out..._

_It's all okay; we're here. Breathe..._

_In..._

_Out..._

*

It took a while for the attack to pass. When he was calm enough Stiles looked up at Derek who had stayed beside him talking him through it. Stiles didn't even know what to say; the last person who'd helped him through an attack had been his dad and... Stiles didn't want to think about that right now. 

"It's all okay, Stiles, feeling a bit better?" Derek asked.

Stiles nodded and wiped at his eyes and nose. "Sorry about that; they've been happening sometimes, since my mom died."

Stiles saw Derek looking at the snot he'd just wiped onto the arm of Derek's hoodie. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't-- I'll wash it and you can have it back now and--" He started to take the hoodie off. 

Derek stopped him. "Hey, Stiles, really, it's okay. It's fine. It's just a plain hoodie anyway."

Stiles looked down. "I really am sorry."

Derek shuffled back into the middle of the bed and offered Stiles the remote. "Don't worry about it. Come on, get over here and I'll let you pick what we watch this time." 

A small tentative smile broke out on Stiles' face as he took the remote. "How do you feel about reality TV shows?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "We could do worse, I guess. It depends which one; what's on?"

*

As Stiles started flipping through the channels Derek looked over at Laura. She'd come to the bed when Stiles' panic attack had started but returned after Derek had started calmly speaking to him. 

Laura gave him a small smile and let her eyes flick from Derek to Stiles and back again. Derek could read the unspoken, ' _you did good_ '. But he didn't want to hear it. All he did was what anyone would do. Talking calmly to a kid who was having a panic attack wasn't exactly the most strenuous task in the world.

Derek was about to say something when when Stiles pulled on his arm. "Derek! What about _Monster Garage_?"

When had the kid moved over to sit right next to him? He should have noticed that. Derek let out a quiet snort. "I suppose it's not the worst show ever."

Stiles was indignant. "Not the worst show ever?! It's excellent! Did you see the one where they made a Cruiser into a woodchipper? It was amazing!"

"That is kinda cool, but who needs a woodchipper in the back of their car?"

"Someone who needs to chip a lot of wood!"

"So why don't they just get a nice van with a woodchipper in it? Or a trailer?"

"That wouldn't be cool though, Derek! That'd just be _normal_. Normal is boring. My mom says so."

"Well, it'd be more practical...." Derek countered. 

Stiles' face scrunched up. "Practical is boring."

And so the debate raged on.

* 

Dinner was pizzas delivered to the door and Stiles still couldn't get over how much Laura and Derek ate. How the heck were they so thin? 

The room had warmed up enough that Stiles could walk about in it without shivering and feeling the need to dive back into his pile of blankets, at least. 

Derek was doing push-ups on the floor of the bathroom and Stiles was using the time to turn his jeans and sneakers on the heater. They were almost dry and he would be so happy to have pants back on that he almost couldn't wait. 

Stiles moved over to Laura who had her laptop open and was looking at pictures of a city. 

"Where's that?"

Laura looked up at him and smiled. "That's Salem, the capital of Oregon. I thought we might head over there tomorrow. I figured a big city might help you get lost a little bit better."

Stiles nodded. "It looks nice, I guess, nothing like Beacon Hills."

Laura gave Stiles a small smile he thought was supposed to be encouraging. "That's good, right? Exactly what you're looking for."

"Yeah, so, this is it? Salem, I could get used to that." Stiles looked at the pictures. The city looked... nice. He guessed. Not like home, but maybe somewhere that could become home? 

Stiles suddenly didn't want to talk about Salem anymore. He looked about the room for something else to talk about and zeroed in on Derek working out in the bathroom. 

"Does he do this every day?" 

"Every evening. We used to... exercise, all of the family together before." Laura answered. It didn't really need saying _before what_. Stiles was intimately familiar with the notion of _before_. 

She continued. "It wasn't quite as... regimented as Derek's started doing it, more a chance to burn off some excess energy and play about a bit. We-- there used to be a lot of us." 

Stiles heard Derek stop doing push-ups in the bathroom. But it was only a pause and then he continued. 

Laura glanced at the bathroom before turning back and shutting down the computer. "Come on Stiles, time for bed. We've got a busy day tomorrow."

*

Stiles took Laura's offered hand and let her lead him towards the bed. Laura hadn't missed the way Stiles had been eager to grab hold of any offered hand, or leaned in to the slightest of touches. 

Every night since the fire Laura and Derek had slept curled toward one another. Touch was important to a werewolf especially after something like a traumatic event; they didn't even have a den to go to, just a room that smelled like other people. 

Laura wouldn't be able to sleep much; normally she got an hour or two, and Derek wasn't much different. But they both stayed curled on the bed throughout the night, pretending they were asleep. At least she wasn't having nightmares like Derek was. 

Stiles had spent the day in their car, in Derek's hoodie and in their blanket from the motel. With the complete soaking he'd gotten the night before in the rain he smelled like them more than anything else since the fire. It was nice. It was really nice. 

She led Stiles to the bed and threw back the covers. "Come on Stiles, get in the bed. You can have the side near the bathroom, and I'll take the one near the door. Unless you'd feel more comfortable sleeping on the floor? I know you just met us today, but they only had doubles left."

Stiles hesitated. "I don't-- are you sure there's space for me in there? I mean, I'm not exactly the stillest sleeper. I don't want to wake you guys..."

"Stiles, it's fine; me and Derek don't sleep so much recently, so you won't be disturbing us. Derek will be working out for a few more hours anyway." 

He still looked a little hesitate so Laura encouraged him. "Go on, you can have the side near the bathroom, and I'll take the side near the door."

He climbed into the bed and snuggled into the blankets. "Night Laura, night Derek, and thank you."

Laura smiled. "You're welcome, Stiles."

*

When Stiles woke up it was to see Laura asleep in the bed next to him and Derek sitting on the computer. Stiles opened his mouth to say 'good morning' only to receive a sharp shake of the head from Derek. 

Derek placed a finger over his lips in the universal _'keep quiet'_ gesture and nodded to Laura. Oh, right, that made sense, keep quiet and let Laura sleep. 

Stiles carefully left the bed and padded over to where Derek was looking at the computer. 

"She hasn't slept much since the fire. She worries that it could happen here too," Derek explained in a whisper. 

"But it was an electrical fault. What are the chances of that happening again?" 

Derek looked like he wanted to say something but instead said, "She worries."

"Is that the wiki page for Salem?"

Derek's face got an odd constipated look. "Laura left it open; I was just about to close it."

"Oh. I should probably leave finding out about my new home a surprise anyway." 

Derek's eyebrows did a thing. Stiles wasn't sure eyebrows were supposed to do that and it clearly conveyed an emotion but Stiles had no idea how to read them. 

A muffled voice from the bed said, "Do I sense it's time for breakfast?"

Derek shot Stiles a glare as if to say, _'I told you not to wake her up'_.

"Derek, go out and get us something. I feel like bagels; bring me bagels... What do you want, Stiles?" 

Stiles thought for a moment. "Orange juice? And...bagels. I like bagels." 

"Orange juice and bagels it is! Go go go, Derek!" Laura commanded with a grin on her face. 

Derek rolled his eyes but grabbed his wallet and left the room, muttering about bossy sisters. 

Laura grinned and shouted after him. "I heard that!" 

*

Downtown Bend was pretty quiet that Wednesday morning. After breakfast Laura had explained that they'd be heading into town to find them all some clothes. She'd left Derek wallowing in his two changes of clothes for far too long. 

Stiles had protested them spending anything on him, but Laura had just shrugged and pointed out that they had the money, they wanted to do it, and if Stiles wanted to travel with them then he was going to have to let them buy him some clothes. 

"You guys are weird, like, really weird. Why would you even do this? I mean, thank you, but I don't understand." Stiles looked small and lost; even though his hoodie was dry, he hadn't wanted to take off Derek's and he was just swimming in it. 

"When I let you into the car you became my responsibility, even if it is only for a couple of days, and I'm not going to let you wander about with only one set of clothes. We're going shopping anyway, so come on. I think the first thing for you is probably going to be a coat."

They worked their way through a series of thrift stores and some boutique shops before they had enough clothes. Stiles was absolutely taken with his new jacket.

"Laura! It has **reflective patches** ; that is so cool! And the inside zips out so it can be worn on its own! Derek, check out my coat. It's so cool, way cooler than that leather jacket you're holding." 

Laura looked over to Derek who was holding a leather jacket tightly in his hands. "You alright, Derek?"

Derek, while running his thumb gently over the leather, said quietly, "It looks like Dad's coat, Laura, can I--"

"We're buying it. Put it in the basket." 

Derek smiled gratefully up at his sister and put the coat into the basket. "Do you think they'll let us wear the coats out of the store?" 

Laura grinned at her brother. "I hope so, because I don't think Stiles is taking his off at all."

They both watched as Stiles ran about the shop showing all of the shop assistants his new coat. Crap, better get him out of here before he drew too much attention to himself. 

*

They arrived in Salem, Oregon just as it was getting dark. Laura got another king, letting the boys think it was because there were no other options. Derek hadn't slept last night, she knew; she could see how tired he was today. He was currently fast asleep in the car with his face smushed against the window of the Camaro. 

Stiles had been more talkative as the day progressed. He'd talked about everything and anything, except Beacon Hills and his family. Laura didn't think she'd heard so many 'did you knows' since Derek was a kid. But through it all Derek had somehow fallen asleep and remained that way. 

Stiles was still resolutely refusing to remove Derek's hoodie. Laura suspected that if Derek directly asked for it back then Stiles would give it to him. The only thing was, Derek didn't seem at all inclined to ask him for it. Derek hadn't taken his leather jacket off since they'd bought it. 

Stiles had grown more quiet the closer they got to Salem and by the outskirts he'd fallen asleep in the car as well. Laura returned to the car with the key to their room to find both of them still fast asleep. She felt a small tug on her heart and tried not to think about it.

"Come on boys, rise and shine! We've got a room with an actual bed for either of you that would like to continue sleeping in a probably less comfortable but definitely more horizontal location."

Derek was the first to wake up and immediately looked displeased with himself. "You should have woken me up when you went to get the key."

"I was within hearing distance Derek; everything was fine."

Derek didn't look any happier. 

Laura pulled the seat forward so Stiles could climb out of the back. "Come on, Stiles, give me a hand with the bags."

*

It was a quiet night. Stiles curled straight up on the bed and flicked through the TV channels until Derek had finally told him to _'just pick something, Stiles, or turn it off'_. Which is how they all ended up watching re-runs of M*A*S*H. 

Derek was in the bathroom again, working out and trying to clear his mind. The bathroom was tiny, but it was better than doing it in the main room under Laura's watchful gaze. 

Laura was aimlessly browsing the internet; at least, Derek hoped she was. If she wasn't then she was probably scrolling through the website of the Beacon Hills Gazette to see if there had been any new activity that sounded like it was related to the fire. 

Or possibly anything about Stiles. Derek hadn't even thought of checking the news to see if they were looking for Stiles at all. That was a pretty stupid thing to do; this could bring down even more trouble onto their heads. Technically they'd transported a human minor across state lines, which Derek was pretty sure was a felony, and even if it wasn't, it was probably something the hunters would take exception to. Stupid, that was stupid. Why had they even agreed to bring the kid with them in the first place? Why had Derek asked Laura? He was supposed to be keeping her safe and he'd made another stupid decision that could bring more danger their way. 

They'd been fine before Stiles had turned up-- alright, maybe not fine, but they had definitely settled into something Derek could cope with. He was ready to serve his time for what he'd done. He'd keep Laura safe and away from the hunters. He'd get stronger and ready so if they ever came back he'd be able to defend them both. No one would hurt a member of his pack again. 

And then Stiles turned up and Derek had found himself forgetting for the tiniest of moments that his family was dead and gone, and that he'd brought it all about. He'd forgotten that somewhere out there Kate Argent was laughing over the ashes of his family. She was probably even bragging to other hunters how she'd killed so many werewolves in one hit and _used their stupid, worthless pack member_ to do it. 

The splintering sound of wood broke into Derek's thoughts. He looked up to the door frame he'd been using to do pull-ups to see it splintered and broken. Derek growled and dropped to the ground. 

"Derek! Behave!" He heard his alpha's chiding call from the main room. He looked up to see Stiles watching him with undisguised awe. 

"You're pretty strong," Stiles said, nodding at the splintered bit of wood on the floor. 

"Not strong enough, not yet," Derek replied. The sooner the kid was gone the better. 

* 

Laura looked through the Beacon Hills Gazette website but there were no reports of a missing child in the entire newspaper. How the hell could anyone not notice he'd been missing for a whole day? She was pretty sure something like that should have started a statewide search.

She'd watched enough episodes of procedural crime shows to know that the first twenty-four hours mattered a ridiculous amount in the abduction of a child. But zilch, nada, nothing. No reports, no small notifications, nothing at all to say that someone was missing Stiles Stilinski and that just made her heart ache. 

Continuing through the website, she checked for any activity that might indicate the hunters had been about, had been looking for them. She still couldn't understand why they'd burned the house. It had to be hunters-- there'd be no one else that would target a house full of werewolves so expertly and successfully. Thinking of the fire in those terms made her feel sick, but she couldn't think of a better way to describe the attack. It was the middle of the day, so they knew no one was asleep and there were more people in the house that day than there had been for months. There was something about the fire that was just nagging at her but she couldn't quite see exactly what it was. 

How had no one but Uncle Peter even been able to make it out? They were werewolves; as soon as they'd seen the fire they should have been strong enough and quick enough to get it put out. At the very least they should have been strong enough to get themselves out of the house. 

The only thing Laura could think of was a ring of mountain ash around the house, or maybe wolfsbane through the water or vents to knock them out first. For something like that it would have to be hunters, but the hunters had a code. As far as Laura was aware no one in the family had ever broken the code. They knew better than to break it. 

All of the cubs were brought up with stories of what would happen if they did-- the consequences, the idea of being strung up and cut in half, made Laura shudder in dread. The people in the house hadn't just been 'wolves though, some of her siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins had been human, and so many of those had been children. 

Nothing made sense. Could it have been committed by rogue hunters, and if so, wasn't that something? How had rogue hunters known so many of their family would be in the house on that specific day? How had they known all entrances and exits to the Hale house? Even the tunnels in the basement hadn't been opened. Frustrated, Laura closed down the laptop, turning her thoughts off with it. This was all too much; she'd just focus on keeping herself and Derek whole and safe and sane. 

Which, speaking of-- "Come on Derek, enough for the night. Time to get some sleep. I know you didn't get any last night."

Derek didn't even pause in the bathroom. "No, but you did, and you need to sleep. I can keep watch make sure we're safe."

Laura shook her head. "Don't make me say it, Derek. Don't make me make it an order. You're going to sleep tonight; I got more than I have in weeks last night and I need you safe and alert. Come on, baby brother, some sleep will do you good. Besides, you haven't had the delight of sleeping with a Stiles in the bed."

"Hey!" Stiles complained from the bed. "I warned you guys I fidget a lot."

Laura chuckled, low and quiet. "Sleep-talk too, don't forget that. It's kind of endearing, even if we are sharing a bed with you."

Stiles huffed and pretended to look offended. Laura had been surprised at how well Stiles could deal with a little ribbing over an ounce of actual concern. Concern made him nervous, worried and convinced he'd done something wrong or that there was something he needed to fix. Her werewolf nose was a serious help in trying to figure out what Stiles was thinking and feeling. Even if she didn't have it she didn't think that he'd be too hard to figure out. 

She was kind of amazed at how quickly Stiles had settled in with them; it had only been two days and most of his worries about getting in the way had tailed off when he realized saying it annoyed Laura and Derek more than anything else he might need from them. Affectionate poking made him feel like he belonged and that was exactly what he-- Laura stopped. Fuck. What was she doing having thoughts like that about someone they were going to drop off tomorrow morning? 

With everything they'd lost, the smell of Stiles in their car, their blanket, in their bed felt good and right. Laura felt stronger with another person travelling in their pack, and Stiles still had the smell of child, of cub, about him. Laura hadn't realized how much of the smell of their home was the smell of the children, but there was something light and free about it, even under the grief and loneliness Stiles' smell always carried. 

Derek had changed into his BHPD t-shirt and a pair of PJ bottoms he'd picked up earlier. Stiles was already under the blankets in his Batman PJs and looked like he was seconds from falling asleep. Laura grabbed the laptop and moved to sit on the other side of the bed, near the door. 

"Come on, move over Derek. I'll take this side and you can take Stiles’ side." 

Derek frowned but moved into the middle of the bed. 

Stiles curled onto his side and said sleepily, "Night Laura, night Derek. Hope you sleep well tonight Derek, s'rry if I fidget too much." 

She felt Derek go still at the quiet words. Laura reached over to turn off the bedside light and left the room only illuminated by her laptop screen. 

The room had been silent for a few moments when she heard Derek very quietly say, "It's fine Stiles, sleep well."

How the hell was Laura supposed to let Stiles go?

*

Derek slept through the night-- no nightmares, no restlessness, nothing. Even Laura had let herself catch a couple of hours, curled around her brother. Stiles had fidgeted a fair bit, but it hadn't disturbed Derek and the boy himself had slept right through it. 

Laura didn't know what to do. Everything said that she and Derek were too messed up to look after themselves. It wasn't safe. It wasn't any kind of environment for a kid to grow up in. At the same time she saw her brother talking, laughing, sleeping. She saw Stiles smiling, the reek of pain and loneliness and despair he'd had when they'd met him two days ago lessening. And it had only been two days. 

She felt stronger, too; she already felt like she had a larger pack and he was only human. She wanted nothing more than to take Stiles with them, keep him safe and make sure he was loved, because Stiles was such an easy person to want to love. 

But that wouldn't be doing the best thing for Stiles. He didn't need to get messed up in the bullshit that came with Laura and Derek Hale. He needed something more stable, somewhere he could go to school, somewhere he could have a little bit more of a chance than living with them would give him. 

Laura walked over to the bed, reaching over a sleeping Derek to gently shake Stiles. "Come on sleepyhead, time to get up and dressed. It's a big day for you."

Stiles sat up from where he'd curled towards Derek in the night. Derek just rolled over to the side Laura had vacated not long ago. 

Stiles rubbed his eyes and looked blearily towards Laura. "What time is it?" 

"It's nine o'clock. I figured it was best if we could get an early start, so they'd have time to find somewhere for you to sleep by this evening." 

The increase in the speed of Stiles' heartbeat and the change in his scent were enough to wake Derek from his sleep. He looked straight at his sister and asked, "What happened? What's wrong?"

Laura sighed. "I was just talking to Stiles about when we'd drop him off at the station."

Derek's face darkened, but he didn't say anything. 

"Come on Stiles, brush your teeth. We've got to make sure all your clothes are in your bag too. Derek, do you want to pack the car for me? I'll help Stiles get his stuff together." 

Both boys left the bed without saying anything. 

*

Breakfast was quiet and so was the drive to the station. They didn't want to drop Stiles right at the station because there would be too many awkward questions so Laura found an alley a block from the police station and ran through with Stiles what he was going to say to the police officers. 

Stiles was pretty sure this wasn't going to work and he was going to end up sent back to Beacon Hills within a week. Hopefully, though, maybe someone would listen to him this time and he'd end up in a different house with different people. He could only hope. 

Laura gave him a tight hug and a small piece of paper with their phone number on it. 

"Remember, kid, any problems, just let us know, okay? We'll be here if you need us." 

Stiles nodded. 

Derek took his bag out of the trunk and handed it to him with a gruff, "Look after yourself." Well, it was as gruff as a sixteen-year-old could manage, at least. 

Stiles took a deep breath and tried really hard not to cry. This was ridiculous; he'd only known Laura and Derek for two days and he was crying at leaving them? This was so completely stupid and he should stop thinking about them _right the heck now_. They didn't want him. It was obvious they were kicking him out. They'd done their good deed and much more than most people would have done.

It seemed Laura had realized that Stiles wasn't going to be able to leave the alley with them still there. With one last tight hug she let go of Stiles and got into the Camaro, Derek following a few steps behind. Once Derek was in the car Laura started up the engine. 

Stiles stood transfixed and watched as the Camaro slowly pulled out of the alley. This was it. He was on his own again and all he had to do was walk a block to the police station. 

*

Derek couldn't stand it. Laura smelled like pain and grief. Stiles had smelled terrible, the bitter scent of hurt all over him. Derek thought about Stiles out there by himself again and oddly it didn't feel right; it just made him feel even worse. 

"You know, there are four prisons in this city. One's maximum security," he said. 

Laura glanced at him, confusion written all over her face. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Derek shrugged and tried to make it look as if he didn't care. Because he didn't. Stiles would be fine, of course he would, just-- he knew nothing about Salem except what Wikipedia had told him. Nothing sinister, really, except that everything he thought of somehow turned sinister in his mind. 

"The main private employer is the hospital. What if he ends up working there? What if he catches something? What if..." Derek trailed off. What was he doing? 

Laura let out a low growl. "What are you doing, Derek? This is hard enough. I'm sure this city is as good as any other."

Derek nodded in agreement. He _knew_ Laura was right, but... "What if we take him somewhere further away? Wait a few more weeks, just until there's less chance that he'll get sent back there? If it was somewhere else we could hang around, make sure he settles--" 

Laura's eyes flashed. "Derek, I don't know if I'll be able to let him go then. This is pretty fucking hard right now and he's only been with us a few days." 

Derek went quiet. She was right, but Stiles had made Laura feel better. He'd made her smile. Derek could keep Laura safe but how was he supposed to keep her happy? He had to take care of his sister; she was everything he had left. 

Derek might not deserve someone that made him feel more like he had before, someone like Stiles, but Laura most definitely did, and surely what she needed came above what he deserved. He couldn't punish her just because he was punishing himself...

"Why can't we keep him?" He asked, a hint of daring in his tone. He knew this wasn't something his alpha wanted to hear but things people wanted to hear weren't always what they needed to hear. 

"It's not fair to _him_ , Derek. We've got no plans except to stay alive and stay safe. We're not a stable home in any way, shape or form. It'd be really fucked up to keep him, no matter how much we might want to."

He fell silent as he thought about this. Laura wasn't right; they might not have a plan but they knew about family, they knew about kids, they were going through the same thing he was. They'd lost everything and now they were about to let go of the chance of something else. 

After a few minutes he started, "Best case, he gets to stay in a kids’ home here in Salem. Maybe he makes some friends, maybe he doesn't. They'll kick him out in six years when he's sixteen, and then what? He doesn't have anyone, Laura. He could have us. So we might be a bit fucked up, but we're better than his best case scenario right now.” 

Laura pulled the car into an empty space and stared at her brother. "Derek, he isn't a toy. If we do this, he's ours. We can't pull any moody shit and we can't wolf out at him." Derek could hear the unspoken _'you'_. "We'd have to move on and start trying to be something he needs. Do you seriously think we could do this right now? Do you think _you_ could do this right now?"

Laura didn't just need it; she wanted it, and he thought, he could do this for Laura. He'd do anything for Laura. "I will."

She let out the long breath she'd been holding waiting for his response. There was no sound in the car for a few moments except the quiet purr of the idling engine. "Well then, we better hope Stiles hasn't made it to the station yet."

*

Stiles hadn't made it to the station. Stiles hadn't even made it out of the alley-- hell, Stiles hadn't even moved from the spot they'd left him in. 

He was standing in the alleyway, tears streaming down his cheeks, when the Camaro pulled back in. They had driven the whole route from the police station to the alley and Laura had this horrible sinking feeling that he'd already made it into the station. 

When they had reached the entrance to the alley and they still hadn't seen Stiles, Laura felt her heart drop; he must have already been in the station. 

Derek had looked up and said, "What if he never made it out of the alley?"

And there he was, standing there looking like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Laura threw the car into park and walked out towards Stiles. When she reached him she leaned down a bit so she was closer to his level. 

"Are you-- did you forget something?" he asked. 

Laura shook her head. "No, kiddo, there's just something me and Derek thought we better ask you."

Stiles watched her with a weary look. 

She continued. "Would you... we have no idea where we're going, and we're a bit messed up, and honestly, don't feel you have to but would you like to come--"

Before Laura could even finish Stiles threw his arms around her neck in a crushing hug. "Yes! I want to!"

Laura laughed. "You didn't even let me get it out!"

Stiles smiled into Laura's neck, his speech coming out slightly muffled. "I don't care if it's for a day or a week or a year. Please don't leave me here."

Laura held him close to her. "We thought maybe for as long as you like. How does that sound?"

Stiles' smile got broader, if that was even possible. "That sounds... Thank you thank you thankyouthankyou _thankyou_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Derek and I have very different opinions on the pacing for this story, trust me, you want Derek to win, he wants all the things to happen right now, so Stiles can get _older_. 
> 
> Of the very important, because there can never be enough thanks to [Slumber](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber) for beta-ing this, and hand-holding. Seriously. There aren't even enough words. She's...fantastic. But you can't have her, she's mine.
> 
> I'm 5k into the next chapter and it should be about the same length as this, so you'll have about the same wait, apologies, I just want to get it right for you all and not rushed :)
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Another panic attack, slight sexual assault (inappropriate touching)

Derek needed a piss pretty fucking badly, but Laura refused to to pull the car over. She was still convinced someone could have seen something in the alley, maybe thought it was suspicious, told the police and suddenly, _bam!_ everyone would be looking for them for kidnapping a kid. 

Derek thought she was overreacting. Derek _knew_ she was overreacting, but she was his alpha, and she was worried. That had been over seven hours ago and they'd made pretty good time since. They were already across the state line into Montana and now, Derek really needed to use a toilet. _Now._ Or a bush, he wasn't too picky, but he definitely couldn't hold it any longer. 

"Laura, come on, we're over the state line. Let’s stop; I need to go. We almost need gas and I'm pretty sure Stiles is hungry," Derek urged, gesturing at Stiles in the back seat. 

As if on cue, Stiles's stomach let out a loud grumble. Both of the Hales turned to look at him, Derek turning around in his seat and Laura glancing at the rear-view mirror. 

Stiles looked the tiniest bit embarrassed. "Um, I mean, I could eat? If there's something going." He offered, looking up to meet Laura's gaze in the mirror. 

Derek snorted in amusement. "See? I think it's a great time to stop for lunch." 

Laura smiled at Stiles in the mirror, then let out a huff of annoyance toward Derek. "Fine, we'll stop at the next place, then we'd better decide on where we're heading tonight."

*

Laura had never seen Derek move so quickly. She could see a slight edge of their supernatural speed to his dash for the toilet. Oops, maybe she should have stopped a little bit sooner. 

She took a bite from her burger and watched Stiles as he mangled the straw he was drinking through. He was sitting, bouncing his leg restlessly against the table, tapping out a random rhythm with fingers against the side of his drink. 

They were keeping Stiles. She was keeping Stiles and that meant she had to have a plan, or at least the start of one. There were certain things that she needed to take care of first. If Stiles was on Adderall it was probably a good idea to get him back on it, for instance. They'd also need documentation, and jobs and money to keep them going, and a phone. Stiles would definitely need a phone. 

But this wasn't the time for any of this; this was the time to figure out where they were going to be heading tonight. Easy enough, right? Stiles had stopped chewing on his straw and was staring intently at something across the restaurant. She could feel the happiness a stomach full of milkshake and fries had brought tinged with sadness.

Laura followed his gaze and saw a kid, about Stiles's age, laughing as his mom scolded his dad. The kid had a meal laid out in front of him and was happily stuffing curly fries into his mouth, and so was the kid's dad. She watched as the kid's mom scolded the dad, obviously about the curly fries, then as the dad waited until she'd finished and slipped the kid a cheeky grin.

Oh. She knew realistically that Stiles was still broken up over the loss of his family-- shit, who wouldn't be? But Stiles's life had been different, and the things that set her or Derek off weren't going to be the same for Stiles. 

"Hey Stiles, you think Derek got lost in the toilet?"

Stiles spun round to face Laura. "What?" 

Laura grinned. "Derek's been in there for, like, ages. Think he got lost? Long enough for his burger to get sad and cold and eaten? I wonder if the same's going to happen to his curly fries..." She pushed the container towards Stiles.

Stiles returned Laura's grin; quite apparently food was the thing to distract him with. 

"You know," Stiles started, mouth full of Derek's curly fries, "I don't think I've had this many burgers so close together since..." Stiles's face dropped again. 

She thought the emotional day had taken its toll on Stiles; she could almost see every thought running back to his parents. Which kind of didn't help, because every time she saw that look that said, 'I am thinking about how much I miss my dead family' it just made Laura miss her family more. 

She tried once more to distract both of them from those thoughts. "Well, we'll have to cook something sooner or later. I can't have you living off of take-out. That doesn't seem like 'looking after' you at all, does it?"

Stiles's face lit up at the words 'looking after'. "You really meant it? You're actually gonna keep me? But... why?"

Laura thought for a moment. How could she explain it? How could she say that she had grown attached? She'd lost so much that she couldn't bear the thought of losing something else? That they could help him so they wanted him too, that he made Derek talk and interact and care. That sounded like a lot of responsibility for a kid and she didn't want him to have to have that. Best keep it simple. "Because you need someone to care about you, and we need someone to care about."

Stiles smiled shyly at Laura, a hint of bashfulness she hadn't thought him capable of expressing. Laura smiled back and reached over to grab one of the last curly fries just in time to be caught red-handed by Derek.

"Hey! Where's my meal? How come you guys ate already?" he complained, walking to the table. 

"Well, you shouldn't have taken so long in the toilet!"

"Well, if someone hadn't taken so long pulling over, I wouldn't have needed to pee so... much." 

"Hmpf, still shouldn't have taken you so long."

"There was only one working toilet and lots of people needing it. Shit happens; now, where's my burger?" Derek growled, looking at the pile of empty wrappers and cartons on the table and shot Stiles an annoyed glare. 

Stiles meeped and pointed to Laura. Laura quirked an eyebrow at him. 

"Traitor," she said fondly. "Come on Derek, I'll buy you some grub and we'll hit the road. I'm thinking we'll try and make it to Bozeman tonight. It's big enough that we should be able to find a cheap motel and then decide from there."

* 

They drove until late in the night, and both Derek and Stiles were asleep by the time Laura checked them into a small, family-run motel on the outskirts of Bozeman, Montana. The motel was a bit run down but the couple that owned it seem nice enough. She'd explained that it was just her and her two brothers staying in the room, and no, a king would be fine; they didn't mind sharing since they'd done it all the time growing up. They were a close family. 

The old couple had given her slightly strained but indulgent looks before handing her the key and directing her to the room. 

"Wakey, wakey, cars to unpack, beds to snuggle down into." 

Both boys stretched awake, Stiles a lot more animatedly than Derek, who merely opened his eyes, yawned and cracked his neck. 

The room wasn't as bad as she'd been expecting from the outside. It was decorated in drab shades of brown and beige, and just as aged as the exterior of the property. The bed was the only exception-- it was covered in a rather garish harlequin bedspread. 

Stiles was the first to comment. "Um, that's hideous. Can we use the blanket from the other motel?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, I'll go grab it from the car. It probably smells better, too."

"I don't know about that; this one should be clean and we've been sleeping under the last one for the last few days." 

"That's good; it's started to smell like us. That's a much better smell than something barely washed since the last people were in here."

Stiles frowned. "But how can you even smell all that? I mean, this one just smells like detergent to me..."

Derek was at a loss for words. Laura could see he'd forgotten that Stiles wasn't a 'wolf and Stiles didn't know all of these things innately. Laura had no idea if they were going to tell him-- well, _when_ they were going to tell him. It might help explain things but for the moment it was probably best to see how Stiles settled. 

Laura was the one to answer. "Derek has a sensitive nose, always has, don't worry about him. Come on, give me a hand folding this one up and putting it away, then we can see about finding dinner."

Derek shot her a grateful look before moving into the bathroom to start his nightly exercise routine. 

*

The next few days passed quietly. Laura had only meant to stay the night in Bozeman but she'd ended up talking in passing to the owners, who had a bit of work around the motel that needed doing. Bill, the older man Laura had met when they arrived, was getting on in years, and while he had jobs he knew how to do, he didn't have the strength or sight to do them himself anymore. 

When he'd realized that Laura and Derek didn't have anything in the way of a plan, he'd asked Laura if her brother felt like earning a bit of cash on the side. Laura hadn't wanted to point out that she was perfectly capable of doing it, and probably a lot better company than her brother. Having something to do would be good for Derek, even if it was only for a little while. 

"The money's not that good, but if you've got nothing else to do, the boy can at least learn a few useful things with me. Ask your brother and let me know," he'd said. 

When she'd asked Derek, he'd merely shrugged and said, "Sure". 

Laura had a list of things for the three of them, her pack, that needed to be sorted out. Most were smaller things but the four big ones were: get fake IDs, figure out where they're going, figure out what to do with Derek at the next full moon, and talk to Stiles about his medication. 

IDs and the full moon would have to wait until she was somewhere she could actually do something about them. Stiles's meds were something she could sort here and now. Before the fire Laura had been about to go into her second year of pre-med; she knew what she wanted to do, there was no doubt in her mind. She was going to follow her dad and become a doctor. And then, yeah, the fire and now there was no way she could take the time to go back to college. Not with Stiles and Derek to keep an eye on, and the possibility of hunters tracking them. 

But she did know just enough and know where to look to find out more about what Stiles needed meds-wise. Assuming he could remember a few things and wanted to go back on them. 

She found Stiles at the desk in their room, browsing the internet. "Hey kiddo, got a sec for a quick talk?"

Stiles nodded. "What's up? Have you figured out where we're heading next? Do you need a hand with something? Do you-"

Laura held up her hands. "Whoa, slow down, I wanted to talk to you about, well, your ADHD."

Stiles's face fell. "Oh. That." 

"Yeah, 'that', I thought maybe-- and remember you don't have to and it's totally your choice-- but would you like to go back on your meds?" 

"Oh, can I? I thought seeing as how we were..." He gestured around the motel room they were in. "I just figured it wasn't an option."

Laura shrugged. "It could be, if you wanted it. I need to know a couple of things. Can you remember your dose? How long you'd been on that dose?"

Stiles could. In fact Stiles, was pretty clued up on his medication for a ten-year-old kid. 

Laura had pulled the laptop towards her and started typing the info out as he told her. 

"And how was it, any side effects?" 

It was Stiles's turn to shrug. "Nothing too bad? Sometimes I found it pretty hard to sleep, you know, _before_ , and I don't know, sometimes I didn't feel like eating. They were the only real ones."

Laura nodded. "So if we could get them you'd be happy to start back on them?"

"Yeah, I mean, it was less stressful for my dad and it'd totally be better for-"

"Don't, Stiles. Don't do it for us, we won't make you. Do it for you, if you want. We'll still be here either way." 

Stiles smiled up at Laura gratefully, like it was the first time anyone had said that to him. "Then, yeah, I still would. If-- how are we even going to do this?"

Laura grinned at him. "Oh, we'll figure something out."

* 

Laura was stupidly good at forging prescriptions. Seriously. Stiles couldn't quite believe how easy she made it.

"How do you even know how to do this? Oh god, you don't, like, have a drug habit I don't know about, do you?" Stiles had a horrible moment where he thought, _oh god have I run away with drug addicts?_

Laura laughed. "No, Stiles, my dad was a doctor. I heard him complain about people doing it enough, and my Uncle Peter was always up to something, teaching us little things here and there." 

Stiles's mind raced. Uncle Peter sounded amazing, he really wanted to meet him. He wondered if-- "You Uncle Peter sounds really cool, did he--?"

"No. Well, he was in the fire, and he's in the hospital back in Beacon Hills. They don't-- he's not really there, you know? It's like the fire burned everything out of him and just left him breathing." 

Stiles was quiet for a moment and then said quietly, "Sorry, I didn't mean-- I don't think sometimes before I speak."

"It's fine, Stiles, you didn't know better. Just-- don't mention him around Derek, okay?"

Stiles nodded. "I get it, sometimes Derek gets a bit..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, Derek took it hard, really hard. He just needs time. And us. We can't let him draw back too deeply into himself. We can do that, right?"

"Yeah, we can do that."

*

Next on Laura's list was trying to sort out some fake IDs. They need Stiles to look like theirs, and they needed maybe to not quite be Laura and Derek Hale. And... maybe some other documents, just a few things. How the hell did you go about getting fake IDs? She'd had some when she was at college, just so she could get into bars, but they weren't the type that were going to hold up to any sort of scrutiny. Probably? 

Hell, maybe it was worth a few emails to her old roommates to see if they had any ideas. Laura walked through her mental to-do list and there was one last thing she sorely needed to figure out. The December full moon was only a few days away and what the hell was she going to do with Derek? It had only be their second full moon since the fire and the first one had gone...less than spectacularly. 

Laura hadn't given it much thought. She still had her anchor, the thing that reminded her she was human, and it had always been their family like all of her cousins and siblings. The fact that their family was dead and gone didn't seem to make a difference. She could still see them, see Derek and remember the feelings she'd had towards them, the human feelings. 

The only problem was it didn't seem to have worked at all for Derek. As soon as the cubs were old enough to start learning that the change was something that they could control they'd been taught about anchors. Their mother, their alpha, had always encouraged using thoughts of the family themselves as their anchor, the idea being that it was something to bind them all together until they grew up and grew into anchors of their own. 

Laura hadn't considered the possibility that your anchor could slip. It was such a fundamental thing to a born wolf. She knew it made sense because people's anchors changed; normally when someone grew up and found their mate it moved from their family to their mate. It didn’t always transfer to a mate, but it always moved from one thing to another, well, nearly always. But apparently it could... just _go away_ , which is what had happened to Derek.    
The full moon had risen and her brother was gone. Instead his wolf was out, clawing and howling and Laura hadn't known what to do. When the cubs were out of control her mother had just pulled them into line with a nip or a roar, but she was the alpha now and she _had no idea what the hell she was supposed to do_. 

She'd torn off into the forest with Derek, herding him to keep him away from the inhabitants of the town but that was the best she could do. It had been lucky he hadn't hurt anyone or anything last month and she couldn't take the chance he'd do it again this month. 

Laura had tried to talk to Derek about his anchor but he'd just shut down and refused to have a conversation about it. She'd seen the blue flash in his eyes and fuck, she wished she had someone to speak to about this, someone who could give her answers. It wasn't like she could just set an appointment for Derek with a therapist and let them figure out how the hell to help her brother. 

Laura sighed and ran a hand over her face. If she couldn't find a new anchor for Derek, and she didn't have a direct way to control him, she was going to need to find a safe place for them to spend the full moon. Not just that, she was going to have to find someone to watch Stiles for the night, and where was she going to find someone like that? 

She was knocked out of her thoughts by Derek and Stiles returning to the room. Derek had been helping Bill, and Stiles had asked if he could come along and watch. Derek was pretty quiet but Stiles was talking a mile a minute. 

"...that was so cool! I can totally see why they call it _bleeding_ radiators, it's like their blood was just running out of them. If radiators were alive I bet that would be painful, hey, I bet it's like leeches they used to use on people and bloodletting, and ew, that makes it really gross; what if we're hurting the radiators and--" Stiles stopped as he spotted Laura sitting in their room. "Hey Laura!" 

"Hey Stiles, have fun with Bill?" 

Stiles nodded and started rambling about radiators again. Laura looked up at her brother and saw the exasperated look on his face; it was like he couldn't believe Stiles was still talking. Yet Derek was letting him talk. He wasn't grunting at him to shut up or be quiet, and that was good. 

Stiles couldn't help talking no more than he could help that he'd now jumped tracks to something about Laura's laptop. No way had Laura expected Derek to be this patient with the kid. 

Laura didn't wait for a pause in Stiles's chatter. "Derek, good day?"

Derek shrugged. "It was fine."

Seriously, sometimes talking to Derek was like getting blood out of a stone. "Did you--"

Before Laura could ask Derek about anything Stiles was talking again. "Annie was really nice, Bill's wife. She brought us all cookies and they were amazing. She'd made them herself and she said we can come and see her anytime, which is excellent, because, you know, _cookies_. I love cookies."

Oh, anytime? Like... full moon anytime? "Anytime?" Laura asked. 

Stiles nodded. "She said anytime." 

Laura looked to Derek and repeated her question. "Anytime?"

"She did say anytime, I think, for whatever reason, she seems to actually _like_ Stiles--" Derek answered. 

"Hey! I keep telling you, I'm awesome! What's not to like?" Stiles said, looking slightly hurt. 

But Laura could hear the self-deprecation behind the statement, the worry Stiles still had that everyone was going to go because no one wanted to be around him. She walked over and put an arm around his shoulder.

"'Course you are, kiddo, what's not to like?" She grinned down at him. "Now come on, we've got to pick dinner..."

*

It was late the next day when Laura decided to seek Annie out. She didn't need much really. All Laura needed was someone to check on Stiles at some point in the night, to make sure he was alright. That was all. 

She walked into the lobby, hoping to find Annie there but she found only Bill sitting behind the reception desk and watching TV on an old grainy TV set.  

As she walked towards the desk he rose to greet her. "Hey there Laura, come looking for the boys?"

Laura shook her head. "Just looking for Annie if that's not a problem. As long as the boys aren't causing you any trouble?"

Bill laughed. "No they're not... Although I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk quite as much as Stiles does! Annie should be up at the house, just go ‘round the main block of rooms, turn right and follow the path up to the house." 

Laura smiled. "Yeah, that's Stiles. There isn't a thought he has that he keeps to himself. Thanks Bill, see you around."

Finding the house was easy, and Annie answered before Laura even had a chance to wonder if she'd heard the knocks. 

"Laura! Hello! What can I do for you today?" Annie was wiping her hands on a cloth; seeing Laura look down she explained. "I was just cleaning the house up a bit, getting things ready for Christmas."

"I've got a favor to ask. You've already both been so kind to us, and it's just there's no one else we've got to ask at the moment. Derek and I have been offered a trial shift at an all-night diner in town, and they've only got one slot to see how we are. I tried to get two separate ones, but it was either this or nothing."

So seriously, it was the only excuse Laura could think of that didn't make it look like they were trying to abandon Stiles with her. 

"We just need someone to check in on Stiles maybe once in the night? Just to check he's okay. I know it's a lot to ask, and we can pay you if you--"

Annie let out a huff and Laura braced herself for the no that was about to follow. "Of course we can, and don't you worry about paying us. But don't leave the kid down in that room by himself. He can stay up in the house. Now, what night is it and what time do you want to drop him off?"

Oh thank god, that was Stiles looked after for the night of the full moon. She gave Annie the times and thanked her again. "Seriously, it means so much, thank you."

Now, all she had to do was tell Stiles. 

* 

Stiles walked into their motel room hot on the heels of Derek, excited to tell Laura everything they'd been up to that day. Derek went straight to the bathroom to clear away the grime from the day while Stiles bounced onto their bed. Stiles had mostly been spared from any dirt because he was only there to keep Derek company (whether Derek wanted the company or not). 

Laura was already on the bed watching TV when Stiles crawled up to her. Just as he was about to reach her side she spoke without looking away from the TV. "Hey kiddo, what have we said about shoes on the bed?"

Stiles looked down to the dirty sneakers he was wearing, mumbling a quick "Sorry, Laura", before he toed them off and pushed them off the side of the bed. 

"That's better, now, before you start on your day, tomorrow's gonna be a tiny bit different. Me and Derek have got a trial shift at a diner in town."

Stiles frowned. That was new information; he'd been with Derek all day and he hadn't mentioned it. "But Derek didn't say anything..."

"Derek doesn't know yet; I'll tell him when he gets out of the shower. It's a night shift so Annie's kindly offered to look after you for the evening. She says you can stay up at hers and..." 

Stiles's heart sunk. That really didn't feel like the truth, but why would Laura lie to him about.... Oh, so this was it, they were leaving him, he kinda thought Laura and Derek would be nice enough to just tell him if they were dumping him. Bozeman seemed nice enough, but he really thought he'd last more than a week with them before they'd had enough. 

"Stiles, it's okay, it's just for a night. Hey, she might even have more cookies." Laura was watching him closely with a reassuring smile on her face. 

He was supposed to say something, he knew he was, but..." Sure. I'll-- do you--" He stopped. There wasn't really anything else to say. He'd been sitting right next to Laura, using the heat from her to keep away the chill of the room. Stiles had no idea why but Laura and Derek were always warm, no matter what it was like outside. 

Stiles didn't feel like sitting next to Laura anymore. He shuffled across the bed to give her a bit more room. Maybe if he was quiet and calm and didn't-- he had a whole day to show Laura and Derek that he could be not-annoying, he could be-- who was he kidding? He'd heard the words over and over again from the people who ran the home he'd been in. _Hyperactive little shit that doesn't know when to sit still or shut up_ and a hundred variations of them. 

Stiles drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. At least he got one last day with Derek and Laura, and maybe Annie and Bill would be nice enough, maybe they wouldn't dump him into a home, maybe they'd want to keep him... Fat chance. No one wanted someone like Stiles and he couldn't blame them. Who'd want someone as useless and irritating as him? 

*

Derek was in the forest surrounding the Hale house. The moon was high and he could hear rustling in the trees all about him. He could smell his family on the wind. He let out a howl and heard all of his pack echo their replies; they were just over the ridge, all he had to do was cross it and he'd be with them.

He started climbing up the ridge, except it seemed like such a gentle slope and now it was proving too much. He was struggling to climb it, and it was like every time he pulled himself up a bit it got higher and steeper. 

He growled and snarled his annoyance and howled for his pack. They'd help him; they'd come and get him... Except they didn't. He heard his pack howl back, but suddenly their howls were cut off. He could hear them resume, but with a pained note to them. 

And he could smell smoke. He heard the howls and the snarls and the whimpers and he could smell smoke and his pack was over there, just above this ridge. If he could get to the top he could get there and help them and he'd be able to smell them, but the smell...

The smell of smoke was coming thicker now, but with it was the smell of burnt hair and burnt flesh. Derek could smell his family burning and he couldn't stop it, he couldn't do anything. He scrambled at the slope, the soft floor of the forest flying under his feet as he tried to grab hold of something, but every branch was loose and just fell below him; there were no roots for him to grab hold of and--

Derek woke in a sweat with Laura sitting above him, her hand pressed to his chest and her eyes glowing red. He could hear her voice, quiet and soothing...

"...come on Derek, wake up. Calm down. It's not real; it's just a nightmare. Come on..."

And what a joke. It _was_ real. It might not be exactly how things happened, but that was it, that was the fire. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't save them. His family were dead and he was to blame. 

Laura was still talking. "There we go, come on Derek. Calm down; remember, you're _only human_ , and you're starting to scare Stiles..."

Laura moved her hand from his chest and intertwined it with his, he could feel his claws out and was suddenly absurdly glad for the darkness of the room; he could see what was going on, but hopefully Stiles couldn't. Which, Stiles, where was he? Derek looked over to see him sitting up in bed, trying to make himself as small as possible and stay out of Derek's range. 

Derek could smell the fear coming off of him and he whined in distress. Stiles shouldn't be afraid of him. Stiles was theirs and Derek should be keeping him safe, not making him afraid. 

Derek squeezed Laura's hand back and concentrated on trying to calm his heartbeat and breathing, he needed to get this under control before Stiles noticed. 

Laura followed Derek's gaze over to Stiles. "Stiles, come over here. Come on, Derek's just had a nightmare, nothing to be scared of, sometimes he just needs to remember we're here," she urged in a soft tone. 

Stiles looked like he wasn't sure what to do. There was a tiny bit of light coming into the room from the almost-full moon outside. It was enough for Derek to be able to see everything that was written on Stiles's face clearly. He could see the indecision, the fear, the worry... everything. 

Derek held his now-human hand out to Stiles, who latched onto it and shuffled over to where Derek was being held by Laura. As soon as Stiles was close enough, Derek wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into his side and kept his arm firmly in place. 

As Derek did so, Stiles fidgeted, clearly not knowing where to put his hands. Derek settled that by settling Stiles's arm into his side. With Laura tucked in one side and Stiles in the other, Derek took a deep breath. The smell of pack that he breathed in made him feel calmer, more human. 

Stiles was still all worry and nervousness next to him; he held himself as stiff as a board for so long Derek thought he was never going to relax. Eventually Stiles settled and his breathing evened out into the steady pattern of sleep. Laura was still awake but Derek didn't think she was going to fall asleep anytime soon, and neither was he. 

*

Stiles woke up to find the bed empty. Not the best start, and made even worse when he remembered what was happening today. How much of his last day with Laura and Derek had he just slept through? Urgh, why did he do things like this? 

Maybe they were leaving him for his own sake, maybe they were government experiments that were on the run, or gangsters, or-- Stiles liked to think they were doing something noble by leaving him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He didn't like the hope they'd given him. 

They were always warmer than their surroundings, and they could hear and smell things that were so much more than normal people. Laura and Derek Hale were definitely something more than normal people. Stiles just didn't know why they were on the run, or what had really happened to their house... and now he never would. 

He felt like... had he imagined Derek waking them up with a nightmare last night? He didn't think so, he thought... he was sure. Were the nightmares anything to do with what else they could do? Stiles didn't get long to think about that before the sounds of Laura and Derek arguing just outside the room broke into his thoughts.

"This is stupid. I don't need a babysitter, Laura!" 

"Derek, I'm saying this as your alpha: you can't be on your own tonight. It's not even what might happen to you, it's what you might do-- what might happen to _me_. What happens if you get yourself killed? What am I going to do with **no one**? Come on Derek, even you've got to think about that; I know you--"

"Fine. But I seriously don't think--" Derek suddenly stopped speaking. Stiles could hear a very quiet, "He's awake, Laura." 

Before Stiles could even think to look away from the door to the room it was opened and Derek and Laura walked in. 

He scrambled to get out of bed and ended up in a pile of blankets on the floor. He looked up into the bemused faces of the Hales and settled for a rather sheepish, "Morning, guys."

Derek snorted and walked off towards the bathroom while Laura bent down to help him get untangled. 

Laura was giving Stiles an odd look and he wondered if she was trying to figure out if he had heard anything. Best not to let them think he'd heard anything worth worrying about, not when they were talking about Derek getting himself killed. He really liked them and hoped they weren't doing anything stupid enough to get themselves killed. 

Best put their minds at rest. "Hey Laura, where were you guys? I woke up and neither of you were around, and I couldn't hear you anywhere..."

Laura looked at Stiles for a moment before she responded. "We were just checking something about the diner shift tonight." She put the now untangled sheet back onto the bed. "So kiddo, are you ready for a fun afternoon with Annie?" 

"Afternoon?! I thought it was just this evening; I mean, I'm not ready..." Stiles was panicking. He thought he had a day with Laura and Derek, and it was probably early afternoon already, and if they were dumping him there for the afternoon that meant he didn't get any time with them to say goodbye. 

Before Stiles had realized what was happening Laura was bending down and giving him a hug. "Hey, hey, it's all okay, we'll only be gone for the evening and night. Spend a nice afternoon with Annie, sleep in what will probably be a way better bed than this, and when you wake up, we'll be back."

Stiles buried his head in Laura's neck and wrapped his arms around her. 

"You know that, right, Stiles? We will be back for you."

He nodded his head in her neck. Of course they wouldn't be back for him. Stiles wasn't even sure why they were even being so mean as to reassure him. He should let go and let them go; they obviously didn't want him. Except he couldn't make his arms let go; every time he tried he just found himself tightening his hold around Laura's neck. 

Laura was rubbing a hand up and down his back and he felt himself get calmer. 

Eventually Stiles managed to convince his arms to let go of Laura and realized he'd been crying a little bit into her neck. He brought a cuff up to scrub at the tears and kept his gaze anywhere but on Laura's face. 

After a moment Laura reached down and ruffled his hair. "Come on kiddo, do you want to take the blanket with you up to Annie's house?" 

Stiles nodded and let Laura usher him into the bathroom so he could get washed and dressed. 

*

Annie's house had been nice enough, what little of it Derek had seen. He had no idea why Stiles had smelled like that when they'd left him there, all sadness and anger. 

He watched the dying light of the day illuminate the trees at the side of the road as Laura drove them out of Bozeman far into the surrounding countryside. 

Eventually Laura turned off of the road onto a darkened forest path. The sun hadn't quite set yet but the trees were tall enough that it was dark enough on the road to need the headlights. Or at least, it would have been if Laura wasn't a 'wolf. 

She drove deep into the woods and finally pulled the car off the road into a clearing. 

They sat in silence for a few moments. They had a good half hour before the moon rose, but Derek had been irritable all day, with his wolf so close to the surface. 

He was the one to break the silence. "Stiles-- back at the motel, why did he smell like that?"

Laura looked over at him with a sad expression on her face. "He thinks we're leaving him. He thinks we've had enough, that we don't want him anymore and we've left him with that couple to be turned into social services."

Derek felt a surge of anger at that. "Of course we're not leaving him there. Why the hell does he think that?!"

Laura let out a low growl. "Out!"

He blinked. 

"Out!" Laura's eyes flashed red. 

Derek felt a low growl coming out of his throat, but he got out of the car. 

"Derek, calm down and don't put your claws near the Camaro again!" 

He looked down at his hands and saw his claws were out. He hadn't even realized, _I was that angry about Stiles_. 

That was the last rational thought Derek had before the moon rose and his wolf surged to the surface. 

*

Laura placed her sleeping brother in the front seat of the Camaro and buckled him in. He was going to bleed all over the upholstery but there was nothing she could do. His wounds weren't anything fatal; they would heal. They'd just need a little bit of time because they'd been caused by an alpha-- her. 

She tried not to look at Derek as she drove slowly back to the motel; she was absolutely exhausted. They'd been doing so well in Bozeman, but they would have to leave by tomorrow at the latest. She'd been able to stop Derek actually doing anything too horrific, some property was damaged and there would most definitely be mentions of animal attacks in the local paper. It wasn't anything to be worried about unless you were a werewolf trying to avoid hunters. 

When Laura reached the motel she was absolutely torn. On one hand she wanted nothing more than to go and get Stiles and bring him back to their room. On the other hand, if Stiles came into their room now he'd see Derek healing from his wounds and would need an explanation as to what the hell had gone on. 

Laura wasn't ready for Stiles to find out about werewolves so it looked like she'd have to get at least the worst of Derek’s wounds bandaged before she could go and collect Stiles. 

It took her a good hour to clean and bandage all of Derek's injuries. Towards the middle of the night things had gotten a lot more vicious and she'd had to use a lot of force to restrain him. It was well into the afternoon before she could even think about going to collect Stiles. 

She checked Derek. He was still dead to the world on the bed in the black hoodie that Stiles had refused to take off for the first week he was with them. They hadn't had a chance to wash it yet. That was good; Derek should keep sleeping with pack scent surrounding him. It was also good enough to cover the worst of his wounds-- the claw marks up and down his arms and across his back. 

Derek rolled over in his sleep and winced as his back made contact with the bed. Laura was so unprepared for all of this she just felt like sitting down and crying; she was absolutely exhausted. But she couldn't afford the time, one of her pack was taken care of, and now she had to take care of the other one. 

With a final check to make sure she hadn't left any bloody bandages in the room, and that her own bloody clothes from the previous night had been hidden away, she went to collect Stiles from the house. 

She barely had to knock at the door before Stiles was yanking it open and throwing himself at her. He wrapped his arms so tightly around her and she immediately put her hand into his hair. Laura ran her fingers through his hair and tried not to let the smells clinging to Stiles sour the moment. 

"Hey kiddo, how was Annie's?" 

Stiles didn't say anything, just tightened his arms around her.

Annie made it to the door and Laura greeted her. 

"Thank you so much for having him, I hope he wasn't too much trouble?"

Annie smiled and shook her head. "No dear, he wasn't a bit of trouble, although I'm not entirely sure he slept last night."

Laura's hand stopped petting through Stiles' hair for a moment before resuming. "He gets a little... anxious. It's the first time we've been apart since--"

Annie didn't let her finish. "It's not a problem; things happen and you're back now. Although I was half-convinced he was going to watch the front door for the rest of the day!"

Laura felt so ridiculously guilty. There was nothing she could have done differently, she knew that, but she just felt like there should have been. This is why she should never have taken Stiles with them; it was such a selfish action and look at the pain that it was bringing. 

Stiles mumbled something against her chest and if she wasn't a wolf she wouldn't have caught it. 

"Of course we came back for you. Let’s go see Derek. He's napping but I think you could do with one too." 

She smiled back at Annie. "Thank you so much again, both you and your husband for your kindness." 

She didn't think they'd be seeing them again. With that she turned and started to walk back to their room. She'd let Derek and Stiles sleep through the rest of the afternoon and then she'd leave the money they owed in the room and hit the road. She wouldn't feel better until they'd put some distance between themselves and the animal attacks. 

*

Stiles ran straight into the motel room and onto the bed once Laura unlocked it. He was obviously trying not to wake Derek as he crawled onto the bed and scooted over to where Derek was sleeping. Derek was under the covers in a worn pair of pajama bottoms and his black hoodie. Stiles kicked off his shoes and curled himself up on top of the blanket near Derek. 

"Get under the blanket, Stiles," Laura said in a quiet voice. 

Stiles shook his head and whispered, "I don't want to let the cold under the blankets and wake Derek."

"Don't worry, he's pretty tired. It was a long shift last night and someone--" Laura paused, she couldn't say bar fight, not after the way Stiles had lost his dad. No violence-- she'd have to make it seem like an accident. "He tripped over and scratched his back on some broken glass."

Stiles frowned down at Derek. "Not Derek, he doesn't fall over. I'm the one who falls over."

Laura smiled softly. "Sometimes Derek falls over too. Just be careful and get under the blankets."

She watched as he crawled into the bed and fell asleep in an instant. Derek moved closer and wrapped an arm around Stiles. She watched her cubs snuggle in together and felt slightly better. Once she was sure they wouldn't wake she started quietly packing up their belongings. 

The sky outside was just darkening and she wanted to be in North Dakota before dawn. 

*

They spent Christmas in a crappy motel just off the I-94 in North Dakota. When Derek woke up after the full moon she saw him sniff Stiles and take in the stale smell of fear, panic and desperation that clung to the boy. She knew he understood.

After that Derek had become sullen and angry. The anger was directed at himself, both for what he'd done at the full moon and for causing Stiles's pain. For all that Derek was moody he never took it out on Stiles.

She could see Stiles didn't understand why they had to leave in the middle of the night but didn't question it. She could see he was just overjoyed that they were taking him with them. 

There were always seasonal jobs to be had around Christmas. Laura had picked up a job as an elf at a grotto at the local mall, and Derek had grudgingly taken one as well. The job itself didn't help with Derek's attitude any, not with the amount of rather bratty children they found themselves surrounded by, and the fake smiles they had to keep on their faces. 

She was pretty sure, though, that the glee Stiles got from seeing her and Derek in the costumes more than made up for the sourness of Derek's mood. Stiles spent the day hanging out around the mall and watching Laura and Derek work. He had her laptop and the mall had wifi, so when he wasn't talking to the other kids or the other elves there was always something to keep him entertained. She'd learned early on that after the incident with the full moon Stiles needed not to be separated from them for now and she could work with that. 

*

Derek did not want to be an elf. He knew this was obvious to every child that saw him, which is why he was sure they took particular delight in asking him _every stupid question ever_. Every question. Ever. 

The kid in front of him was demanding to know why he couldn't be let in to see Santa _right the fuck now_ (seriously, how the hell were these kids so foul?). Urgh, children. Why couldn't these kids be more like Stiles?

Derek looked away from the kid over to where Stiles was propped up against a reindeer in the display. He'd managed to find a plug for their laptop and was staring intently at the computer, whatever it showed putting a slight frown on his face. 

He let the snotty kid in his line through to see the grotto. _Joke's on you kid, Santa's drunk. He'll just slur a holiday greeting and cover you in whiskey-breath._ Laura was happily chatting to a small girl with ginger pigtails who was the last in her line for the grotto, which meant after she was through they were done for the day. 

Derek left his gate and went over to Stiles and the reindeer. 

"Hey Stiles, time to shut down the computer, we're pretty much done here. All we've got to do is change out of our costumes and we can head back to the motel."

Stiles didn't move, like he hadn't heard Derek at all. 

Derek frowned, leaning over to see what Stiles was looking at, and he froze. There on the screen was a picture of Stiles and the words 'MISSING’ written underneath it. 

Stiles was looking at the Beacon Hills Gazette website and someone had _finally_ reported him missing. 

Derek slammed the lid shut on the laptop, startling Stiles out of his fixated state. Stiles looked up at him with wide eyes. 

"Don't tell Laura, it'd just spoil the day and she's worked really hard to get Christmas right for us," Derek said in an urgent whisper. 

Stiles's eyes moved from Derek's face to stare at the laptop that was resting in Derek's hands and he didn't say anything. 

" _Stiles_ \--" He said in a pleading tone. 

That seemed to work and the boy looked up at Derek, suddenly nodding frantically, eyes still wide. "I won't tell her. I just-- _a month_ , Derek! It took them a month! I told you they wouldn't notice me g--"

Derek could sense one of Stiles's rambles coming on. Shit. 

" _Stiles_ , this isn't the place for this." Derek tried to frantically think of something that would distract Stiles before he started declaring he was a missing person in the middle of a busy mall. He did the first thing that came into his head and he took off his elf hat and dropped it onto Stiles's head. 

It took Stiles a moment to process what Derek had just done. When he did, he reached up and grabbed the hat. His eyes locked with Derek's for a moment before a huge grin split his face. "You're finally letting me wear it! Ahahaha, I'm an _elf_."

As Stiles ran over to Laura, shouting that he was an elf now too, Derek thanked whatever god there might be that Stiles was pretty easily distracted. Although Derek had to wonder if Stiles had just let himself by Derek's attempts. 

*

Stiles loved Christmas but this year he'd been dreading it. This would be the first Christmas without his mom or his dad. It was bad enough last Christmas when it had just been him and his dad. His dad had burned a turkey before starting on the whiskey. Stiles had gone to bed when his father passed out on the sofa with a bottle of Jack. 

His dad had spent the next day apologizing to him and trying to buy him things. Stiles knew his dad was just really sad and sometimes the whiskey made him feel better. Even though that had been last year at least he'd still had his dad, this year he had... well. He had Laura and Derek. 

Stiles wasn't sure they would be any better than his dad had been without his mom. 

Stiles woke up on Christmas morning half falling out of bed with one of Laura's arms the only thing stopping him from completely falling out of it. It was still dark outside but that didn't mean anything; they were really far north, and it was winter and... yeah. He felt over onto the bedside table and checked the time: eight a.m., that was a fine and decent time to get up on Christmas morning. It was also a fine time for him to take his meds. He grabbed his Adderall and the glass of water that were sitting next to the clock on the bedside table. That done, he looked over to Derek and Laura, who were both still sound asleep. 

The motel they were staying in had an odd festive feel that Stiles didn't think was entirely intentional. The furniture felt like it was made for Santa's grotto, all ornate and colored in reds and greens. 

Stiles looked over to the corner of the room to look at the small Christmas tree Laura had set up on their table. He couldn't contain the small, excited sound that came out of him when he saw the four presents sitting under it. 

Both Laura and Derek woke up at the sound and Stiles clapped a hand over his mouth. Stiles couldn't see well enough but he was pretty sure Derek rolled his eyes. 

"I think he saw the tree," Derek said, voice rough from sleep. 

Laura reached over to turn on their bedside lamp and smiled. "I think he might have just. Go on, Stiles, grab the presents and bring them back here." 

Stiles jumped out of bed, shivering at the cold, and quickly grabbed all four of the presents under the tree. He brought them back to the bed, crawling under the covers Laura lifted for him.

There were four presents. Two were beautifully wrapped and two were a bit... roughly wrapped. They were all done in the same gold Santa wrapping paper with little reindeer name tags. 

Laura picked one of the roughly wrapped presents out of Stiles's lap and checked the tag before handing it to Stiles. 

"Merry Christmas, Stiles." 

Stiles grinned and shook the present before unwrapping it. He looked down at the book that landed in his lap. "Oh my _god_ , this is awesome! How did you know I wanted it?"

Laura smiled, "Derek saw you looking at it in the book store-- origami huh? Shame you haven't got any nice origami paper..."

Derek rolled his eyes and picked one of the other nicely wrapped presents and handed it over to Stiles. "Merry Christmas, Stiles."

Stiles grinned as he opened the pack of origami paper. This was amazing! He knew what he was doing for the rest of the day. 

He immediately opened the book and started trying to find something that he wanted to make. There was a lily! Oh, or, he could make a water bomb! That sounded _so cool_. Stiles didn't look up again from his book until he'd messed up his lily two times. 

Derek was sitting up in bed looking at a book and Laura had a pair of leather gloves on, with a bit missing at the back. He had no idea what the heck their presents were.

"Hey Derek, what did Laura get you?" Derek held up the book so Stiles could read the title. It was a book on passing the North Dakota driving test. 

"Oh, awesome, are you going to teach Derek how to drive?" 

Laura nodded, "Yep kid, that's the present. Now, what do you think about these bitchin' driving gloves Derek got me?"

Laura held up her hands and let Stiles have a second to look at them before she was diving in to tickle him with her gloved hands. 

He giggled, "Ah! Laura, stop it!" Stiles dove under the covers to avoid Laura's hands but only ended up knocking all their presents off the bed. 

For all the people that they were missing, Christmas wasn't quite as bad as Stiles thought it would be. 

*

Neither Derek nor Laura picked up another job in town after their elf one had finished. There was enough money for a little bit and Laura was pretty sure they were going to have to leave after the next full moon that was on the third of January anyway.

She had pretty much lucked out at the previous motel, in a strange way, in that she had someone to leave Stiles with while she looked after Derek. It might have completely gone to shit but at least she'd had a plan. This time Laura had no idea what she was going to do. 

Their mom had always made looking after the pack, being their alpha, seem so _easy_. Laura had no idea what she was doing, no idea how she was going to keep her pack safe. Every time she thought about it, she thought about her mom which just made her _hurt_. 

As the moon grew fuller she could feel Derek become more and more agitated. He'd started to open up as the month had progressed, but had sunk into quietness as he'd started to feel the pull of the moon. 

She didn't see the point in moving them on until after the moon; it wouldn't give them enough time to settle anywhere new and she'd already found a remote part of the forest for Derek. Without the job there wasn't really anything for the boys to do during the day. Derek had been using the time to work out even more than he normally did, and Stiles used it, as always, between the TV and the laptop. 

Laura was out shopping trying to decide between mac and cheese and fajitas when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered. "Hey Derek, what's up?"

"Can you come back to the motel, please?" he asked, sounding oddly contrite and a hint of worry slipping into his voice. Fuck. 

"What's wrong? What did you do?" 

Derek let out an irritated huff before replying with a sullen, "Nothing."

Laura closed her eyes and counted to ten to keep herself calm; it had to be serious enough for him to call her, but stupid enough that he didn't want to admit he'd done anything. Stiles. It had to be Stiles.

"Where's Stiles?"

There was a pause. "In the bathroom."

"And?"

There was another pause before Derek absolutely crumbled. "He won't come out; he's crying and he just keeps telling me to go away and _I've got no idea what to do_." The last part came out in small growl. 

Laura wanted to run straight back to the hotel and soothe everyone, give them everything they needed until they were calm and content. But she was beginning to get the idea that she couldn't just go to them. If it wasn't urgent the boys needed to be able to cope by themselves. "Is he hurt?" 

"No. He's just upset and I don't--"

"Was it your fault?"

Derek didn't answer. 

"Derek, _was it your fault?_ " She put her alpha voice into the question. 

He let out a small, wolfish whine and his voice was very quiet when he replied. "Yes. I... I was working out and he just _kept interrupting_ and... I shouted at him."

Derek had been so good at dealing with Stiles, but the full moon was so close, and his wolf was there, whining and crying and leading him so easily to anger and irritation. But just because he'd let his anger get the better of him and it was wolf-related didn't mean he got a green card and his alpha to fix it. He needed to learn to control it, he needed to deal with the ramifications of his actions, even if it meant he had to calm down Stiles. 

"Man up and apologize, Derek. I'm going to finish shopping and I want you two talking when I get back. Okay?"

There was no response. Laura took that as an affirmative. 

"Good. Now, go sort it out. You can do it, Derek. Go on, apologize to the pup." Then she hung up. 

*

Derek growled slightly and tossed the phone onto the bed. How the hell was an apology supposed to stop Stiles crying?

He turned towards the bathroom door and paused at the sound of Stiles trying to cover up the sounds of his crying. At Derek's growl when he'd hung up Stiles had started sniffling louder. 

He hadn't meant to snap at Stiles, it was late in the day and Stiles's Adderall was wearing off and he just kept asking all these questions. Derek just wanted to lose himself in stretch and burn as he went through his routine. But every question Stiles asked made Derek lose count, and it made him think. He couldn't work out and answer Stiles at the same time. He just couldn't. 

Stiles wanted to know what he was doing, what different exercises were doing for different muscle groups, why he was doing it, where they were going next, could Stiles ride up front on their way to the next town, what about school, what about work, what about the car, what about-- and Derek just snapped. He'd roared at Stiles to just please shut up and leave him alone. And maybe he'd growled a little bit. The smallest bit. Maybe his eyes had flashed. Fuck, how the hell was an apology supposed to fix this? How the hell did he screw up so many things? 

Derek slowly walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Stiles, come on, open up."

He heard Stiles fidget about on the other side of the door before he answered with a snuffly, "Go away, Derek."

Derek pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Stiles, _please_."

Nothing but silence greeted him. Fuck, it couldn't hurt to apologize at this point and he was sorry. 

"Stiles... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you. I just..." How was he supposed to explain that his wolf got the better of him sometimes without explaining about werewolves? What was close enough that he could explain this? Did he even owe Stiles an explanation...of course he did. He knew Stiles couldn't help it. 

The door opened slightly and Stiles peeked his head around the corner. "...you're sorry?" 

Derek nodded. "I am. I really didn't mean to shout at you, I just get... angry, sometimes. And sometimes it comes out at the wrong people."

Stiles scrubbed at his red eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. His voice was very quiet as he said, "I don't think it was the wrong person." 

"Of course it was, Stiles. Sometimes you talk a lot, it's okay. I was angry about... other things, and it just-- I shouldn't have shouted."

Stiles sniffled and let the door open more. "Other things?"

Derek closed his eyes, he shouldn't have left the opening there for Stiles, not when he didn't want to discuss it. "Just... things to do with the fire, and--"

Stiles didn't let him finish. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up. I'm really, really sorry, I didn't know--" 

"You couldn't have known; it's fine."

They both stood there in silence. Derek had no idea what to do now. He thought he was forgiven, and Stiles didn't smell as distressed as before. But what was he supposed to do now? What would he have done... before, when he'd had a fight with one of his brothers or sisters? He paused. He'd just have run off into the wood and sulked until his mom called him back into the house. He'd never had to deal with... this. 

"Do you want to watch TV?" he asked. 

Stiles looked up at him. "But you were working out. Don't you want to keep doing that?"

Derek shrugged. He was still riled up and if he couldn't just run this off (and he couldn't, because that would mean leaving Stiles alone when Laura had told him to look after him) then he'd rather work it through. 

Stiles's eyes were still red and his face was blotchy, but he narrowed his eyes giving Derek a look that was far too calculating for someone so young. "Can I... can you show me how to do some of the things you do?"

Derek frowned. Was Stiles seriously asking him if he could join Derek in working out? "You want to work out too?"

Stiles nodded. "Maybe... I don't know. I feel restless and you always look so focused when you work out. I want that. Also, I'd totally be distracted by all the exercises and maybe I won't ask as many questions?"

Derek responded with a thoughtful, "Hm."

Which is how, an hour later, Laura found the pair of them in the room. 

Derek and Stiles were both doing push-ups on the floor. Derek was moving smooth and steadily and Stiles was a bit jerky. Stiles was absolutely drenched in sweat with a scowl of concentration on his face. 

"Hey boys, come give me a hand with these," she called from the open door. 

Stiles flailed and dropped onto his face, his arms giving out mid push-up. "I can't help it. I'm dead. My muscles no longer want to work. They are gone."

Derek snorted and walked past Stiles to give Laura a hand with the shopping. 

When they finally had all the groceries put away, Derek moved to the sink and poured himself a glass of water. He quickly drank it down and refilled the glass. He went over to where Stiles was still lying on the floor and held the glass out to him. 

"Water time. It's important to stay hydrated." 

Stiles's arm groped around blindly trying to reach for the water but Derek held it back. "You can't drink it down there. Sit up and it's yours."

Stiles pulled himself up and Derek handed him the water. When he had finished the glass he handed it back to Derek and made to climb onto the bed. 

Derek grabbed his arm. "Oh no you don't. You've got to shower before you get in there. The sheets will stink otherwise."

Stiles groaned but changed his direction to the bathroom, muttering complaints about how bossy Derek was under his breath.

Derek snorted and turned around to find some clothes to put on after his own shower. He caught Laura staring at him from the kitchen. 

She smiled at him. "You did good."

He felt suddenly awkward. All he'd done was fix his own mistake; she shouldn't be congratulating him for that. He opened his mouth to correct her, but before he could get anything out she was speaking again. 

"We need to start dinner, you can cut up the chicken." She dropped a pack of chicken pieces on the counter alongside a blunt knife that had come with the small kitchenette. 

Before he could say anything she turned away and busied herself with rinsing the peppers. Derek focused on chicken in front of him, the moment was gone and maybe it was best that way. 

*

Stiles punched the numbers into the vending machine and waited for his can to drop. He reached in to grab the can and yelped. It was cold, ridiculously cold; why he’d thought having an ice cold drink when there was snow outside was a good idea he didn't know. 

He let Derek's black hoodie slip over his hand and held onto the can, opening it he took a sip and felt the sugary goodness hit his tongue. As he started the walk back to their room he thought about Laura and Derek. 

The pair of them were acting weird. Derek had been really angry the last few days and today he hadn't said a word at all. They kept talking quietly and stopping when Stiles got near the room. Stiles knew something was going on; he just didn't have any idea what. He was settling into the idea that they weren't just going to leave him but he wanted them to tell him things. He didn't care if they were criminals, or on the run from the government or anything. They wanted him and that was enough. 

He switched the can to the other hand as the cold was starting to seep through his sleeve. Every day he tried to keep up with Derek as he went through his work out; he liked it, it made his mind feel more quiet, and he felt a bit more settled at the end of it. If nothing else he was definitely sleeping better at night. 

Stiles stopped as he passed their neighbor. She'd been living in the low rent motel for a couple of years now, and she had... cats. Lots and lots of cats. The smell kind of bugged Stiles as he passed, but she was nice enough. He smiled at her and bent down to scritch at one of the cats that was rubbing against his leg. 

He said goodbye and walked into the room he shared with Derek and Laura. As soon as he entered he saw the pair of them standing there, obviously having just stopped talking. 

"Hey guys," he said, dumping himself onto their bed. 

This was the third motel they'd lived in and Stiles was pretty used to sharing a bed with Laura and Derek. Sometimes he paused and thought, _'this might be weird, I might have run away with weirdos'_. But then he'd remember falling asleep with his dad on their sofa and how safe he'd felt and thought it didn't really matter anyway. He slept better with Laura and Derek than he had since his mother had become ill and he'd been diagnosed with ADHD. 

Laura and Derek were still standing there, both looking at Stiles on the bed and... sniffing? Were they seriously sniffing? They were looking down at his feet and Stiles thought, _'I don't think I stepped in dog crap on the way in.'_

He reached down to check his sneakers and found nothing. When he looked up again at them they were both still watching him. 

"What? There's no dog poop there, why the faces?" 

Derek scowled and Laura let out a little laugh. "Nothing, kid. So, me and Derek have to stop out for something tonight and we--"

"Can I come along?" Stiles asked before she'd even finished.

Laura shook her head. "Sorry kiddo, I don't have some good explanation-- just, sometimes me and Derek need to go out for the night. We haven't got someone to babysit, but I'll have my phone on me all the time, okay? You just call and I'll answer. I may not be able to come back but I can try and talk to you."

Stiles frowned. What the heck were they doing that he couldn't come along? Stiles was seriously considering that they might be criminals, except-- okay, they were probably criminals. Thieves? Con-artists? Guns for hire?

Derek moved over to the corner of their room that served as a kitchenette and opened the fridge. Stiles guessed he was looking for things for dinner. 

He was almost a hundred percent certain that they weren't just trying to ditch him, but he couldn't stop himself asking. "You're not... you're not trying to get rid of me, right?" 

Laura shook her head and moved to sit down on the bed next to Stiles. "No, we've just got to go out. We won't be gone long. We'll have an early dinner with you and then we'll be back by morning."

Stiles nodded, but shuffled towards Laura and let her throw an arm around him. 

"Can I call Derek, too?" 

"No, you get to keep Derek's phone for the night, so you can call me anytime. We'll get you your own phone soon. Now, are you gonna help Derek get dinner ready or what?" 

Stiles nodded and got down off the bed to help. 

*

Laura had left it as late as possible with Stiles before she got Derek up and started to get herself ready for the full moon. She changed into some of her rattier clothes and left her leather jacket in the room. She only wanted things on her that she didn't mind losing tonight. 

Once dinner was ready they sat down around the TV to eat-- Stiles and Derek settled on the bed with their dinner plates on their legs and Laura at the small table with one solitary chair. 

Stiles was settled on the bed, fed, watered, and watching some crappy TV show about weddings. The moon was coming up soon and they really had to go. Derek was staring at Stiles who was far too focused on the TV to actually be paying attention to it. She sighed. 

"You've got the phone, you've got my number; don't stay up all night, and remember, if you go to sleep we should be back before you wake up. Sleep well, Stiles." 

She didn't look at him too long because she could feel the pull and how Derek was starting to get more agitated next to her. She put her hand on the back of Derek's neck and guided him out to the car. 

They drove for a few miles and barely made it out of the car before the shift started. He tore off into the woods and Laura released a heavy sigh before she followed him. 

The chase went on for a good few hours, with Laura keeping them away from the more populated areas, but she was fairly sure Derek was heading in a specific direction. 

Derek was currently pawing and jumping at a tree, trying to get at a squirrel that had run up there. Laura would think it was cute but mostly she was just glad for a minute to sit down. As if on cue her phone started ringing. She pulled the phone out and saw Derek's number on the screen. 

"Hey Stiles, everything okay?" 

Derek turned at the sound of her human voice and she winced, hoping he'd leave her alone long enough to take the call. 

No one spoke on the phone but she could hear the buzz of their TV and Stiles's shuddery breaths. Fuck, he was crying. She really hoped this wasn't a panic attack. 

"Hey kid, it's okay. Come on, breathe; we're just a few miles from you, it's all okay..." She continued to try and speak calmly to Stiles. It was definitely a panic attack, but there was nothing else she could do except try and keep talking to him soothingly. 

Derek was edging closer to her, his squirrel long forgotten. She could see the blue of his eyes glowing faintly in the night and the frown on his already-crinkled brow. _Fuck, Derek, not now. Let me calm the kid down first._

Stiles's breathing was getting a bit better, slowly but surely. She needed a lot more time on this phone with him though, more than it looked like Derek was going to give her. 

He was right up near her now, and she was trying to keep talking about things they'd do tomorrow, funny things that had happened over Christmas. Anything to just keep going in the most soothing voice she could manage. 

She looked over at Derek and he was right next to her now, except when she looked up it was straight into the hazel-green eyes of her brother. She blinked; it was distracting enough to stop her constant flow of chatter. 

Derek was human. His face was normal, his eyes were green, and as he reached to take the phone out of her hand she noticed even his hands were normal-- not a claw in sight. 

His voice was rough when he started speaking into the phone. "Hey Stiles, it's Derek-- yeah, you can do it for me, breathe in... breathe out... I know you can do this. "

When Stiles's breathing had finally returned to something approaching normal she heard a very quiet, "Thanks D'rek," from the other end of the phone.

At the pleading look in Derek's eyes she shook her head. They couldn't go back, not tonight, not even if it looked like Derek had found an anchor. She gestured for Derek to hand her back the phone. 

"Do you think you can go to sleep for us now, kiddo?" She asked, listening carefully for Stiles's reaction through the phone line.

"Yeah. S'rry Laura." His voice came down the phone sleepy and slurred.  

"It's okay, get some sleep and we'll be back real soon." 

She hung up the phone and looked at Derek. He was sitting down on a fallen log with his head in his hands. She sat down next to him and let her hand rest carefully between his shoulderblades. 

"So you found a new anchor." It might have been obvious but they needed to talk about things; she couldn't just read his mind. 

He nodded but didn't lift his head from his hands. 

"What... who is it?" Laura was pretty sure she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Derek. She wanted to understand. 

Her brother was quiet for a moment before he answered. "Stiles. It's... I heard his voice and his fear and it just-- he's _so_ human. He's loud and excitable and annoying and... yeah. All the emotions for him, they're too complex for the wolf, and the wolf wanted to protect him more than it wanted to hurt anyone else. I think I can do this with him as my anchor. If I think about him alone without us, it's enough to remind me I'm human and I can't let any of us down."

Laura smiled sadly. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good start. She wrapped her arm around her brother. They could go back to Stiles; there wouldn't be a problem with Derek. 

* 

Stiles was woken up by the cold air from the opening of the door. It was still snowing out there and the wind blew straight into the motel room. 

He tried to wrap himself in the blankets before his brain caught up with him and he realized that this meant Laura and Derek were home. He sat up in bed with the blanket clutched tightly around him and grinned at them across the dark of the motel room. 

"Y're back." 

It was dark but he thought he saw Laura nod. "Yeah, we're home. Go back to sleep; we're leaving town in the morning." 

Stiles settled back down under the covers but made room for Laura and Derek. They didn't just shuck off their clothes and get into bed; instead they made their way over to the bathroom and turned on the light. Stiles watched them sleepily in the light of the bathroom. 

They'd been out in the snow in just their t-shirts, which were now ripped, and they were covered with scratches. The Hales were really weird sometimes, but that didn't make Stiles love them any less. 

Stiles was asleep before they joined him in the bed. 

*

The next morning they woke up early and hit the road as soon as the sun was out. Derek had been mostly under control the night before, but she didn't want to risk anything. Things had been quiet and she wanted to keep them that way. They were heading south at Stiles's request, he'd been Googling and had found there was a town called 'Valentine' in northern Nebraska. Stiles thought it'd be cool if they could be in Valentine for Valentine's Day; it was just over a month away and if they found jobs Laura didn't see why they couldn't stay there for a little bit. 

Things had mostly been good in the morning. Derek and Stiles had slept through the night once she'd finished cleaning Derek's cuts and scrapes. The only slight accident had been when Stiles had gone to put on his jeans from the night before. He picked them up, but they were wet all around the ankles. 

Before Stiles could even say anything a red-faced Derek snatched them out of his hands. "I spilled water on it last night. Wear something else." Then he had thrown them into the laundry bag. 

Stiles frowned at Derek and looked like he was about to say something, but instead he shrugged and grabbed another pair from his bag. 

Laura would have thought nothing of it, but she could _smell_ those jeans from the other side of the room. She shot Derek a confused look: why the hell had he peed on Stiles's jeans? 

Derek's face got redder if that was even possible; he looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. He muttered quietly so Stiles wouldn't hear. "The cat marked him."

She snorted in laughter. If possessively marking Stiles's clothes was the worst Derek did with the full moon, she could live with it. 

Derek stomped out of the room towards the car. 

 

*

Valentine was a pretty quiet town with nothing much going on. They settled on a low-rent motel and the pair of them tried to find jobs and somewhere slightly more permanent to stay. 

She'd been in contact with their insurance agent and apparently the claim was 'progressing well' whatever the fuck that meant. Laura didn't want to live off that money, and she was pretty sure Derek wouldn't either. Laura didn't even want to bring it up with him. There was the money for the house and the life insurance policies on so many members of their family that were heading straight for them. 

Laura didn't give a shit what she did during the day; she wanted something that kept them all occupied and brought money home. She'd spoken to one of her friends from college and a decent set of fake IDs were on their way, but they weren't here yet. Laura wanted jobs that kept them as below the radar as possible. She didn't want people to be able to find them and finish the job that they'd started when they set fire to their home. 

She knew Stiles should probably be in school, and Derek probably should too. He hadn't gotten his GED but there would be time for that once... well, there'd be time for that later. Laura wasn't ready to think that far ahead; alive, happy and safe were above education and the future for the moment. 

They lucked out in that the local diner had a job going for wait staff. Laura weighed her odds and pushed Derek to take the job. He was better when he had something to keep him occupied during the day, and when he felt like he was doing something useful for them. 

The diner was owned and run by Marny, a tough woman in her fifties whose fondness for baby-doll pink and cigarettes was obvious from the second Laura met her. She took one look at Laura in her leather jacket and tattered jeans and offered the job to Derek. Laura didn't care; it was exactly what she wanted. 

Customer service really wasn't the best job choice for Derek, but he was cute enough and quiet enough that the tips were pretty good. 

They passed Stiles off as homeschooled, and he spent a lot of Derek's shifts sitting in a corner of the diner, tapping away on their laptop. Laura didn't think he was studying but as long as he was keeping himself occupied it was good for the time being.

Laura picked up a job helping some folks rebuild after the fire that had swept the area the previous year. Derek didn't like the smell of ash on her when she got home, so she made sure to keep a spare set of clothes in the trunk of the Camaro. 

Stiles turned eleven on a freezing cold Monday in February just after the full moon. This one passed in relative ease; she'd stayed awake for the night as Stiles and Derek slept curled in the center of the bed. There were no incidents, no anger, no growling, no accidental marking. The relief Laura felt at not having to worry about the full moon was unreal. It made her feel better, too, to think that they were actually getting on with their lives, and getting better. 

Their fake IDs arrived and Laura was relieved; to her they looked as good as her actual ID, and their names were all there and accounted for. Linda, Dave and Sam Stephens were three siblings from Bozeman, Oregon. She'd had their ages increased slightly so people might be less suspicious about the three of them traveling together. 

Stiles had wrinkled his nose when he found out his name was 'Sam' but his displeasure only lasted as long as it took him to find out Derek's new name was Dave. 

"Dave! Ahahaha, oh my _god_ it's perfect. You are so not a Dave!" Stiles cackled. He put on a stuffy, fake accent and introduced himself. " _Hello, my name's Dave Stephens, pleased to meet you._ " He held out his hand to Derek, waiting for a handshake. 

Derek rolled his eyes and snatched his new ID out of Stiles's other hand. He peered at the photo. 

"This doesn't look like me."

Laura took it out of his hand and looked down at it. "Derek, it's the same as the picture of your actual ID. What's the problem?"

Derek frowned. "We're not Stephens, we're Hales. This is... I don't like it."

Laura's eyes softened. "None of us do, Derek, but if we want to stay together and safe... sometimes we have to make a couple of minor concessions. Now, c'mon, let’s get ourselves a fun backstory and _learn it_. Best not make anyone any more suspicious than they might already be."

"I want to be related to someone _cool_!" Stiles said, moving over to Laura and grabbing her new driver's license. 

"Stiles, I was thinking more about agreeing about what our parents did for a living." 

He paused and turned to look at her. " _Our_ parents?" He looked confused and a little lost as he examined the birth certificate and driver’s licenses that were sitting in his hands. "Stephens... we're all... we're family?"

Laura pulled him into a hug. "'Course we are, Stiles. Now, I reckon mom was a teacher and--"

"No! Mom was totally a mad scientist! And that's how we lost them, she was developing something amazing; I don't know what, but it blew up and--"

Derek snorted. "Something _believable_ and _ordinary_ , Stiles."

Stiles scowled at Derek. "Spoilsport. Fine, how about astronauts and her rocket got--" He cut off at a raised eyebrow from Derek. 

"Oh, fine, what do you want them to have done?"

Derek was quiet for a moment. "How about a real-estate agent and... a high school teacher who died in a car crash?"

"They were killed on impact, not trapped, or died in hospital; they didn't suffer," Stiles added in a stubborn tone. 

"And we sold the house, because we didn't want to remember them," Derek said. 

They were all three of them quiet, thinking about all the people they'd lost and how they'd lost them. Laura hadn't meant for this moment to become morbid; she thought it would be something exciting, something that showed them they were family, that they were pack. 

She broke the silence. "Yeah, sounds good; we can work on the details tomorrow. Probably best get to bed. We've got work in the morning and it's getting late." 

The boys nodded, Stiles getting the first turn in the bathroom because if someone didn't stand over his shoulder this late in the day he'd take forever getting ready for bed. Laura was the last and she turned off all the lights and crawled into bed. 

No one had really said anything really since they'd hypothetically killed their hypothetical parents. Laura curved around her brother and buried her nose in his neck. He smelled of warm pack and comfort. 

She could hear Stiles slowly inching closer to Derek in the bed and she knew he'd fall asleep with Derek's arm wrapped tightly around him. 

*

Derek hated working in the diner. No, seriously, he'd rather be working on the burned out houses like Laura than dealing with middle-aged women who pinched his cheeks and leered at him. Mostly it was things he could handle; he just went bright red and tried his hardest not to think about the last person who had called him handsome, who had given him stupid compliments, and smiled and paid him attention and--

"Kid! The food's getting cold! Grab those ladies their order and make sure you _smile_!" Marny hollered at him. 

Derek winced. He could hear well enough there was no need for her to shout. He grabbed the two portions of sandwiches and fries and headed over to the pair of ladies in the corner. 

They were old-- or well, Derek guessed they were probably in their forties, both dressed up like they were on a night out, not just gone for lunch at the local diner. And worse, it was only just after one in the afternoon and Derek could smell the alcohol on them. He'd not served them any but they'd obviously been drinking before they came in here and Derek was sure he'd seen a flask being passed between them. 

How did people not have any shame?

"Stop staring, start serving!" Marny shouted from behind the counter. 

Urgh. Derek really didn't want to do this. He walked with their plates over to their table and dropped them with as much courtesy as he could manage. He even tried a smile; smiling got him more tips and he knew it. Cougars were the best tippers as well. 

"Oh, look at your pretty face! You should smile more, show us all those pretty teeth," the one with the ginger hair and garish glasses cooed. "Sandra, look at him! Isn't he just a darling? I don't know how we got so lucky here!" 

Sandra, whose hair was neatly pinned back into a bun, grinned wolfishly. "Oh, I wouldn't say there was any luck about it. I heard there was a cute, young thing working at the diner these days. What do you think, Sue?" 

Derek's smile dropped. How the hell were these women treating him like he was nothing more than a piece of meat? He felt his heart rate increase and tried to think of Stiles. He wished he was in the diner today, but he'd been feeling bold enough that he'd been spending a lot more time at the local library. 

Sue, the ginger woman, leered at him. "I think we might have to come here more often." 

Derek tried to ignore them, but Marny would shout if he didn't ask. "Do you need anything else?"

Lecherous grins split their faces and Derek winced. 

"How about you, sweet-cheeks?" Sue leered. 

Derek scowled and felt his face heat up. He could do this, he could stay cool. "I meant anything from the menu?"

Both of the women burst into laughter and he felt his face get hotter and hotter, his claws coming out and slicing into his palms. 

"Oh no, honey, nothing from the menu unless _you're_ on it."

Derek walked away; he'd been polite enough and he didn't think he could stay calm for much longer. He walked out the back to the staff toilets. The diner was quiet apart from the women and he figured he deserved a moment’s rest. 

He uncurled his hands and looked at his claws. Laura would kill him for an incident like this so he tried to focus. He thought about Stiles, who would be sitting the library, reading god knows what. He couldn't let him down. Stiles had just managed to convince the librarian to let him borrow books a couple at a time; he'd be upset if they had to move town again.

Stiles laughing. Stiles smiling. Stiles fighting him for the remote control. Stiles asking Laura a million and one questions. Laura ruffling his stupidly long hair. Calm down. He could do this. 

When he looked down at his hands his claws were gone and he felt... better. He splashed some water from the sink onto his face and took a deep, steady breath. 

Derek was leaning over the sink, letting the water run coolly against his head, when he heard the door to the toilets open. There weren't any other male employees in today, only customers or Marny. He didn't look up from the sink as he spoke. 

"Hey, this is a staff toilet can you--"

A warm hand squeezed his butt and Derek jumped forward, smashing his head against the faucet. He stumbled back and away from the woman. 

"What do you think you're doing?!"

It was the lady with the neat bun from the diner. Sandra. She was grinning and unpinning her hair from the bun. Derek couldn't think; he looked at the way her hair was falling around her head, honeyed blonde and falling in waves and Derek couldn't see anything but Kate. 

The woman walked forward and Derek tried to move backwards but the wall was behind him. She was all up in his space, pressing herself against him. 

"Oh honey, you're such a young one, let me show you what a **real** woman can do." 

Derek could smell the alcohol on her breath and he wasn't in the bathroom in Valentine anymore, he was in the library at Beacon Hills and he could see his substitute teacher leaning over him, and he could hear her voice. " _Ever had a real woman, Derek?_ " 

"Don't worry if you don't know what to do; I'll guide you 'round the curves..." He felt the woman's tongue at his neck and the panic was so deep he couldn't move. 

_"I'm a teacher, do you want to become my _star_ pupil? I've got some things to teach you..."_

All he could smell was Kate Argent and he just didn't know what to do. Derek's anger snapped through the fear and before he knew it he was pushing the woman off of him and running out of the bathroom. 

He didn't stop as he heard Marny call his name, and he didn't stop to think about where he was going. All he knew was if he stayed there any longer he might actually hurt the woman and... 

_It wasn't Kate. You're not going to kill her. She's not found you. Your pack is safe._ Derek tried to repeat the thoughts to himself and tried to think of Stiles but he just couldn't. 

When Derek finally stopped, he was standing in front of Stiles, who was staring up at him with a confused expression. A highlighter was hanging out of his mouth and he was surrounded by papers and books. 

"Uh... hey, Derek? Why are you wet?" 

Derek blinked and opened his mouth to say something but... nothing came out. He closed his mouth and tried again. All that came out was a small growl followed by a quiet whine. 

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._ He was messing things up. 

He reached forward and grabbed hold of Stiles's arm. He wanted his pack safe in their den. He needed his pack safe in their den. 

Stiles stumbled as Derek pulled him out of his seat and tried to pull back against him. 

"Derek!" He said in an angry whisper. "What are you _doing?!_ This is the library! Aren't you supposed to be at work? _What's going on?!_ "

Derek let out another small whine and fuck, that was making it worse-- why couldn't Stiles just come with him? He stared at Stiles and tried to plead without saying anything. 

He could see the moment Stiles caved. "Okay, hang on, just let me grab my coat..." 

Derek pulled, they could come back for his coat later. 

"No, Derek-- there, look, it only took a second." He had his coat slung over his shoulder. 

The librarian gave them filthy looks as they left the library. Stiles tried to mutter something about 'just heading out for a bit, be back later' but Derek wasn't listening. 

It was still snowy outside and Stiles tugged at Derek's arm until he let him go so he could get his coat on. 

"Seriously Derek, I don't get it. It's like ten degrees out here, how are you not cold? You're only wearing a t-shirt and it's soaked! There'll be, like, icicles on your hair! My mom always said I couldn't go out without a scarf, gloves and hat when it was snowing. You don’t even have your jacket!" 

Derek wasn't listening; it was only a few blocks to the long-stay motel they were staying in and they were almost there. 

Stiles slid on a patch of ice and it was only Derek's arm that stopped him going faster. He grabbed hold of Stiles with both arms to steady him and winced.

"Hey, how did you move so quickly? Seriously, Derek, and your _eyes_ they're like on fire; they're so _blue_ \--"

Derek blinked and tried to hold the wolf down. He was scaring Stiles, but he could still smell that woman, feel her tongue on his neck...

Stiles's voice was so quiet. "Derek... I'm worried. What's wrong? Where are we going? Why are your eyes like that--"

Derek let out a sad whine. Shit, he'd totally blown it. He stood there with no idea what he was going to do. He just felt like running into the woods, giving in to his wolf and not worrying about all these complex human emotions. He could be free; the wolf wouldn't care that he'd messed things up, that Stiles would _know_ about them, the wolf would just... run. 

Something cold was curling around Derek's hand and he looked down to see Stiles's smaller hand holding on to his. He looked up and Stiles was staring at him, but where he'd expected fear and recrimination, all he saw was curiosity and concern. 

"Hey Derek? Are you in there?" 

Derek nodded; he didn't think he could quite get out any human words, and he didn't want to scare Stiles with any wolf noises. 

"Can we go into the motel room? I'm absolutely freezing." 

Derek nodded again, but waited for Stiles to lead the way. 

Stiles grabbed Derek's hand tighter. "Hey, can you hold onto me? It's really slippery and I really don't want to fall over..."

Derek didn't need to be told twice; he held Stiles's hand as tight as he could without hurting him. 

Together they covered the last couple of hundred feet to the motel room. 

*

Once they were inside Stiles didn't know what to do. Derek was... he couldn't be scared of Derek, not really. He'd been confused and worried when he'd shown up at the library soaking wet, with a panicked look in his eye, and hadn't said anything. He'd been even more worried when Derek started to grow claws, and his eyes had gone blue. But Stiles could see the fear and panic on Derek's face, even under the gnarl that appeared on it. He hoped Derek was okay; he still hadn't said anything. 

Derek had thrown off his soaked t-shirt and jeans and was crawling into their bed, burrowing himself into the blankets. Stiles reached for his discarded jeans and searched through the pockets. He really hoped-- aha, there it was, Derek's cell. 

He opened it and dialed Laura's number; it rang a couple of times before she picked up. "What's up little bro?"

"Hey Laura, it's Stiles. Derek is--"

"What's wrong? What's happened?"

Stiles took a breath. "I don't know, and he's not... really talking? He just keeps growling and whining, and his eyes are all weird and he's got _claws_ and--"

He heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line. "Shit, stop. Stiles, what's he doing right now? Where are you? Whatever happens _don't run_ and _don't look him in the eye_."

Stiles looked up, straight into Derek's eyes. Oops. "Um, we're at the motel. I mean. I think he's okay? He's in the bed and kinda curled into a ball and--"

"Stiles, just do what he wants; try not to panic and I'll be there as soon as possible." Laura hung up and Stiles was left there, eyes still locked with Derek’s. 

"Um. What do you want me to--" Before he could even finish Derek was reaching over from the bed and pulling him towards it. Stiles managed to kick his sneakers off before he was pulled under the covers and dragged close to Derek. 

This was how Laura found them twenty minutes later. Derek was fully human again; his eyes, his face and his hands. He'd stopped making low growls and whines, but he still hadn't said anything. 

Laura threw open the door to the motel room and stood there, staring at the bed. 

Stiles raised a hand and greeted her. "Hey, so, not dead, but still have no idea what's going on." 

*

Laura had no idea what to say. She'd half expected to come back to bloodshed and fear and instead she'd found the boys curled up in the bed. Um. What just happened? 

Stiles seemed calm enough, if confused, so she focused her attention on Derek. 

She could smell the edges of his fear from here; she thought some of it might be at her, but she could feel something from earlier. Something that had probably set Derek off in the first place. 

Laura shrugged off her jacket and went into the bathroom. She needed into the bed, into their puppy pile and she needed to do it without any hint of ash or smoke clinging to her. 

When she came back out she'd had a quick shower and was wearing a pair of Derek's sweatpants and one of his more worn t-shirts. She saw his nose flare as he took the scent in. Oh, she thought he'd like this. 

She crawled over to the bed where Derek was curled around Stiles. She nudged them over. "Come on you lug, you're not as small as you used to be; you might even be bigger than me." 

She climbed under the blankets and wrapped her arms around Derek, making sure she was high enough up the bed that she could tuck her head into his shoulder. He was taller than her these days, and she could feel the muscle that he was starting to put on under her chin. He might eventually be strong enough and big enough to challenge her as alpha, even though he was just a beta. Laura wasn't worried, though; this was Derek. He never wanted to be an alpha, to be in charge. He was a good beta... at least most of the time. 

Stiles turned in Derek's hold so he could face Laura, she assumed. "What's going on?"

Laura let out a sigh. "So, we might not have been entirely... truthful with you. About what happened, who we are-- it's part of the reason we weren't going to bring you with us in the first place. Keeping you with us was never just about you being on the run, we're on the run too...just from something a lot scarier than social services. We just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to leave us before we told you."

Stiles made a sound of protest at that. 

She smiled. "I know kiddo, you're not going anywhere if you've got a choice. We would have told you eventually, and it probably wouldn't have been as scary as this. We just couldn't find the right time." 

He'd pulled back a little from Derek's hold so he could meet Laura's gaze without going cross-eyed, so he was looking her in the eye when she said, "We're werewolves."

There was silence. Derek inhaled sharply and she could feel him holding his breath.

After a moment Stiles spoke. "Oh, is that... that's it? You're not, like, violent criminal super villains? Or, like, some weird wolverine-like superheroes, or--"

Derek snorted. Laura smiled. 

"No, Stiles, just plain old werewolves." 

And that opened the floodgates; Stiles had a million and one questions and in traditional Stiles-style he asked them all at once. 

Laura tried her best to answer them all. "Yes, the moon affects us. No, not all the time. Yes, we can choose to shift. No, we don't all turn into real wolves..." and on it went for a little while. 

Laura could sense Derek's relief across so many of her senses, although that didn't stop her from needing to know what had set this all in motion. In a small shot of silence between questions, she tightened her arm around Derek's middle and nuzzled into his neck. 

She could feel him tense up as he realized this precluded the question she had.

"So, come on baby brother, what happened?" 

Derek didn't say anything; he hadn't said anything the whole time they'd been in the room together. 

She gave him another reassuring squeeze. "Tell me, tell us." 

Derek's voice was hoarse and quiet when he spoke. "It's nothing we need to worry about."

There was a moment and Laura realized that was all he was going to offer. That wasn't enough. 

"More." She demanded, a hint of alpha in her voice. 

He let out a small sub-vocal whine but answered. "Someone... I just thought I saw one of the hunters, and she surprised me in the bathroom. But it... it was just a drunk lady in the wrong toilet. I... I panicked. I didn't. I'm sorry. I didn't... I'm really sorry."

Derek had started rubbing his cheek against Stiles's hair, but Stiles didn't object at all. In fact, for Stiles he was being remarkably still and well-behaved, or at least he had been. She could see him starting to fidget with what looked like a question. 

Derek's answer wasn't good enough but... whatever it was had spooked him, and she just-- this was good, this was nice, this was pack. She didn't want to force more things to the fore. 

"Go on Stiles, you know you want to ask." 

She could hear Stiles's grin in his voice. "Is this-- the cuddling and the smelling-- a wolf thing? I didn't think it was normal; I was half-convinced you were _thieves_ at one point, or super villains, and I'd somehow ended on the run with violent criminals. " 

Derek snorted and stopped rubbing his cheek against Stiles's hair. 

"Violent criminals? How did you even get to that?" He asked. 

"Well! Remember in... January? You both went out in the snow and I...." He paused, and Laura thought he was going to stop but after a moment he continued. "I had a panic attack. You came home and it was _snowing_ outside, but you didn't have coats, and you were all scratched up and the next day we left town! I even looked online to see if there were any reported thefts in the area but there was nothing." 

"I... you were prepared to run away with thieves?" Laura asked, genuinely curious. She hadn't really thought about what they meant to Stiles, what he was prepared to live with. 

He nodded into Derek's chest. "You were still you; you were nice to me and you seemed like... good people, so I wasn't going to worry about the thefts too much. I figured you had to have a reason."

After a moment’s silence, Stiles continued. "Well, it was that or some government experiment gone wrong."

Laura rolled her eyes, typical Stiles. They all three fell into an easy silence and Laura tangled her legs with Derek and Stiles. It was still early but before she knew it, she was fast asleep surrounded by pack. 

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to pop over to my tumblr and follow or not! http://saspiesas.tumblr.com Talk to me! I always like meeting new people :)
> 
> I post mostly teen wolf things, with the odd other thing that catches my attention. There's a couple of fic snippets up there, teen wolf although not from this verse. Mostly me getting things out of my head so I can work on this :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient <3 I had to edit the tags slightly and you'll probably notice that Derek/OC is gone, where it was planned to happen it really didn't feel right so I didn't force it. 
> 
> And the biggest thank you to [Slumber](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber) for beta-ing this, seriously, the things I do to commas is positively obscene.

Laura was woken up by the smell of food cooking and the quiet sounds of laughter. Stretching on the bed, she let herself roll over onto crumpled sheets that had been carefully been tucked around her to cover the space Derek had been in. The blankets still had the bitter tinge of Derek's panic on them, but under and over that there's a deeper smell of pack and contentment. From the kitchenette she could hear the boys bickering in hushed whispers.

"That's going to be undercooked," Stiles complained.

Derek wore an exasperated tone to his reply that suggested it was probably what woke Laura up. "No, no it isn't. We tend to like our meat a little undercooked." 

"'We'? Hales?" 

She could hear Derek shifting uncomfortably. "No... 'we' werewolves."

"Oh. Undercooked?" Stiles was quiet for a few moments and Laura could almost hear him thinking. "Is that you saying you like your food bloody?"

"...you could put it like that." 

"That's cool. You can just say those things, you know. It's just food." 

She could hear something was bothering Derek as he replied.  "You're not... You don't think we're animals? Or wrong? Or evil? Or..." Derek sounded so... defeated. Laura sighed; only Derek could get angsty over dinner. 

"Why would I think that?" Stiles's tone was genuinely curious. Laura was more worried about where the hell Derek had gotten the idea that werewolves were _wrong_ ; it sure as hell hadn't been their family. "Of course I don't, except for the animals bit, you turn into wolves sometimes, right? But that's the only time you _are_ animals. Otherwise you're still Laura and Derek? Like, you're not going to start acting like totally different people, right?"

Laura didn't hear Derek say anything. 

Stiles continued. "Well, then, you're not evil." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

There was nothing but silence for a few moments and Laura realized Derek wasn't going to say anything. She had one final stretch and sat up in the bed. 

"Hey boys, is that steak I smell?" she asked, leaning forward and letting her arms rest on her crossed legs. 

Stiles grinned over at her. "Derek went out and picked some up. I haven't had steak in _forever_ ; he said we had to have some green vegetables with it so we've got some green beans." He said the vegetable's name like the word left a bad taste in his mouth. 

She laughed. "He's right, vegetables are important to a growing boy, or so dad always said. He was a doctor so I reckon he'd know these things." 

Derek's shoulders slumped a little at the mention of their dad and Laura sighed. It was pretty obvious Derek didn't want to talk about earlier, and apparently he wasn't ready for talk about their family to come up in normal conversation. She'd have to deal with it, but now really wasn't the time. "So, where's my steak?"

The steak was good, not too fine a cut, and if Laura cheated a little and shifted her wolf-teeth to eat it... well, she wasn't going to say anything. 

When they were done Derek took their plates to the sink and left Laura alone with Stiles on the bed. 

"I guess we're leaving Valentine soon?" he asked, looking at Laura. 

She nodded. "Yeah, best not hang around." She took a deep breath; they'd covered vaguely that there were hunters, but she could see Stiles was picking up more. She needed Derek to know she'd spoken to Stiles about this, even if she really didn't want to have to bring it up in front of him. "The fire at the house wasn't an accident."

Stiles didn't say anything, just shrugged a little. "I figured as much when you mentioned _hunters_. As in, people who _hunt_ you?"

Sometimes Laura worried about how clever Stiles actually was. "Normally there's nothing to fear from hunters. They're supposed to live by a code. As long as we don't hurt any humans, they don't hurt us. Except... obviously someone wasn't following that code. If it was hunters, or just some plain old vigilantes, I've no idea."

Derek was tense at the sink; she could hear the water running, but he was standing still and had been since she started talking about the fire. 

Like ripping off a band-aid, this needed to be done. Stiles needed to know, so she pressed on. "I don't want to risk them following us. We don't know why they did it; we _never_ hurt anyone. None of the Hales. That was the first thing we learned as kids." She paused, letting Stiles digest the information. "Every pack is led by an alpha. After the fire I became the alpha, and Derek's still what I used to be... a beta. Alphas are made stronger by the wolves in our pack."

Laura didn't know how to continue. She didn't need to connect the dots for Stiles to understand that her pack was technically made up of only Derek. She didn't want to admit she was weak and that's why they were running, but she didn't get a chance to continue because Stiles started talking. 

"Hey, does this mean you're like officially the boss of Derek?" He grinned and looked over to Derek.

She snorted as Derek suddenly started cleaning their plates again. "Yes, yes it does, Stiles." 

She could almost _feel_ Derek's eyeroll from across the room. 

"Does this mean you're my boss too?" 

Trust Stiles to switch the tone of the conversation so quickly. It was all curiosity, not a trace of the teasing that had been there when he'd started asking about bosses. 

"Well... think of it like you would your parents. You'd want to listen to them, right? Because they look after you, love you, and so you want to make them happy and do things for them?" 

Stiles nodded. 

"Well, being an alpha is a little bit like that, if you choose to be that kind of alpha. So Derek doesn't _have_ to listen to me, but his wolf tends to _really want_ to listen to me." 

Laura was almost surprised at the words she'd just said, but that was exactly what it was to her. 

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Can you be my alpha too?" 

Laura smiled, and felt happier than she had in weeks. "Course I can, kiddo. I already was." 

*

The next place they stopped was Hays, Kansas. Stiles had made about a hundred jokes about _The Wizard of Oz_ and 'no place like home'. It was bigger than any of the towns they'd stopped in for a while, but it was a college town, which meant a high transient population. Just the type of city they could get lost in. 

They found another sketchy long-stay motel in the city. Derek didn't think they would be staying here too long, but it would do for now. There wasn't a crazy cat lady living next door to them this time, which was a massive plus, though they also didn't have their own bathroom, which... kind of sucked. 

It took Stiles about three days before he found the closest public library to their motel, and it happened to also be in possibly the sketchiest area of Hays. Stiles kept insisting he was fine to walk the five blocks to the library by himself, but Derek wouldn't let him, and there had been a slight disagreement when he'd first tried. 

"Seriously Derek, it's five blocks. What are you even going to do all day with me in the library? Shouldn't you be out with Laura looking for work?" 

Derek had shrugged; he'd quickly learned that the only way to win an argument with Stiles was not to engage him. Stiles was pretty much under the impression that if he kept talking long enough everyone would just agree with him to stop him talking. 

Stiles just let out an exasperated sigh and Derek knew he'd won. 

The library was nothing special. Stiles spent most of the day stealing their wifi and reading through a series of books that had no relation whatsoever to each other. Or at least none that Derek could figure out. At least Derek was sure Stiles was happy at the library, Laura he wasn't quite as sure about. 

She managed to get a job at the local hospital as an orderly. It was so below Laura that Derek almost wanted to cry. His sister was working a shit job and it was all his fault. Laura should have been at med school, in a few years she would have been working in a hospital like that as a doctor. Instead she was mopping the floors.

All it had taken was a pretty face, a few compliments and he'd brought all of this down on them. Derek wanted to argue, wanted to tell Laura that she could be so much more than this, but he... didn't want to, not really. He didn't want to bring it all up, point out where she should be, because there was no way she could go back there, not now. 

Derek felt like he should be able to fix this, that there should be something he should be able to do...but he was drawing a blank. He couldn't think of a way to fix this, he couldn't think of a way to bring their families back, he couldn't even unfuck Stiles's situation. So he'd do what he could, he'd do everything Laura told him, try and make things as easy as he could for her. Because there wasn't anything else.

*

Stiles wasn't stupid. No, really, Stiles might get a little distracted here and there, but he wasn't stupid. He didn't like school mostly because they made you study things _in order_ and they had set things that you were supposed to learn. Stiles wanted to learn things about crap that _interested him_ and was pretty sure most of the stuff they were teaching him in school he'd never need again. But, he was also sure there was a lot of stuff he could learn at school that he would use again. 

He was bright enough to know that school was important, and he knew he was missing out learning things, living with Laura and Derek. 

There was no chance for him to go to a proper school, but he also knew that couldn't be his only option. What about kids that lived, like, a million miles from a school, what did they do? Or people whose families meant they were always on the road? What about kid actors? He was going to research it and find out, but for now he was going to use Derek and the fact that Derek hadn't found a job yet to his advantage. 

They were in the public library, Stiles's current favorite place (free, warm, comfortable and free wifi? What wasn't to love about the public library??). Stiles was trying to figure out what he was supposed to have been studying in his classes this semester. Derek was lounging over one of the chairs like it was the most comfortable thing in existence (they were nice, but not _that nice_ ) and flicking through a Neil Gaiman novel. 

"Hey Derek?" Stiles said in the loudest whisper known to humanity. 

Derek looked up, as well as most of the other people in the library. Stiles winced and whispered a 'sorry'. 

"What's up, Stiles? Ready to go?" 

He shook his head, "Nah, I just wondered what you were studying in English when you were in fifth grade." 

Derek thought for a moment. "I don't know, nothing specific." 

Stiles frowned. "You've got to remember, there must have been specific stuff."

"I think we looked at newspaper articles, maybe?" He shrugged. "It was a long time ago," He said before going back to reading his book. 

He thought Derek would be more useful. "I don't want to get behind. In case I ever go back to school, I don't want to be the kid that has to repeat a year." 

Derek looked up again, dropping a bookmark in the book before closing it. "Maybe we could homeschool you. Although... I have no idea how that works. Would I have to teach you? Or, I guess we could do something online?" 

"I thought about that, but how the heck would I even go about that?" 

Derek looked thoughtful. "Leave it to me." 

*

Laura didn't so much hate her job as it made her miss what she could be doing even more. She got to be in the hospital, she got to be almost part of it, but instead of saving lives she was there moving people around the hospital and cleaning up their puke. She knew it was an important job nonetheless, but she couldn't help feeling she could be doing so much more. 

It was useful for grabbing prescription pads for Stiles's meds, and it was... she'd always wanted to do something that helped people. Something to do with medicine. It wasn't anywhere near what she wanted, but if nothing else it was excellent for training her nose to get used to the overwhelming smells and noises of a hospital. 

Laura looked at her watch; she only had two hours left on her shift, and then a short half hour to get home before the moon rose. The last moon had been fine, and she finally felt comfortable enough to leave Derek and Stiles alone for the night and let herself run. She was really, _really_ looking forward to it.

April's full moon was the egg moon, the first moon of spring, of new things and new beginnings and Laura felt oddly optimistic. She'd been an alpha for nearly six months now and she'd only ever shifted into her beta form. With no Derek to look after, and the nice quiet woodland she'd picked out, she wanted to try for her full alpha form. 

Their mother's form had been a beautiful grey-black wolf and Laura had loved it. She'd seen two alpha forms though, her mother's and her grandfather's. Laura's mother hadn't become an alpha until Laura was in her teens and their grandfather had passed away. She didn't know if her mother hadn't tried for her alpha form, or if it had actually taken her years to learn how to shift into it, but they didn't see it until a good two years after their grandfather had died. 

Their grandfather had been a beautiful wolf, but he'd so rarely shifted into his alpha form that Laura couldn't remember it very well. Their mother had been so much different; she'd spent so much time in her alpha form, nudging her children (even sneaking up on them and scaring them sometimes) and letting the younger ones ride about on her. Laura knew her mother didn't rule the pack like their grandfather did-- with distance, respect, and a level of seriousness. No, she'd run it with love, loyalty, and joy. 

Laura wanted to be an alpha like her mother had been, but she had to figure out how to do it. 

Laura shook herself out of her thoughts as the bitter smell of vomit filled her nose. Ew. Well, work to do before she could run free. 

*

This was almost... domestic. Derek was on the bed in their motel room while Stiles worked on his application for University of Missouri's Online High School. They'd had to do some wrangling to get Stiles's school history into a state they could submit, and it was was all under his fake name, but it looked like it might actually work. 

Derek had been the one to speak to the librarian in the library, to talk to Laura and to get everything arranged up to this point. When Laura had asked in the car if he was prepared to look after Stiles he had meant it. He didn't know what he could do to fix Laura, to make things better for her, but he knew what he could do for Stiles. And he knew Stiles being happy and safe made Laura happier, so.... yeah. 

It was the full moon tonight and Derek could feel it pulling under his skin; he could even hear Laura's delighted howls carrying over the distance but he was right where he wanted to be: sitting with Stiles and trying to pick what courses he wanted to study. 

"Oh! Can I do--" And Stiles was off again. He'd had to talk him out of at least five different courses that he wasn't eligible to take or required absolutely stupid requirements. 

Laura had wanted Derek to study as well, but he knew it cost money, and even if it wasn't a ridiculous amount, he'd rather be working and helping Laura that way than letting her support the both of them. If anyone should be going back to school it should be Laura, not him. 

Another howl sounded quite close to the motel and Stiles looked up from the laptop. "Is that... is that Laura?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, she's enjoying herself, that's what it says, and she's letting us know she's still close to us." 

Stiles looked thoughtful. "Don't you want to be out there with her, running?" 

"No, I'm right where I want to be." 

"You're not... you're not just saying that because, you know..." Stiles made a flailing gesture that Derek thought was supposed to represent a panic attack. 

"Stiles, I'm here because I want to be." Derek wasn't sure if Stiles believed him, but he meant it. He might want to be out there running, but he didn't want to leave Stiles alone, and the wolf was calmer and more under control when he was around the boy. So, here _was_ exactly where he wanted to be. 

Stiles still didn't seem convinced but there was nothing Derek could do about that. 

"Drop it, Stiles. Now, pick your courses, and try and pick something at least slightly relevant, that's a legal requirement, Stiles, not an option." 

Stiles smiled. "How about..." And he was off again. 

* 

After the fuck up with the diner Derek had tried to stay away from customer service jobs, but the truth was in a college town even service industry jobs were hard to come by. Derek eventually got a job as a shelf stacker at Walmart. It was a uniform he could live with and it made doing their grocery shopping pretty easy. It took his manager two weeks to realize giving Derek a top with 'How may I help you?' printed in big letters on the back didn't quite work out well for anyone involved. 

There were customers, but Derek didn't have to talk to them a whole lot, especially not with the shifts he was taking. Twenty-four hour stores meant shifts at any time of the day. It meant he could always find a shift that worked around Laura needing the car for her job. It also meant he could spend time with Stiles during the day and just be away when he was sleeping. 

No matter what shifts Derek took, they always managed to find time for their morning runs and their evening workouts. Even if it was the other way around because Derek had been asleep for a large part of the day, or just coming in off a shift. Stiles was actually putting on some muscle, and he was even getting a lot closer to keeping up with the wolves and their eating. 

Stiles was the only one of the pack who had a set routine of any sort. He woke up in the morning, before Derek or Laura came in from their night shifts (if they were on them). If it was a weekday he studied, read, played about on the computer, Derek didn't know. His courses were getting done, Derek knew because Stiles would sometimes ask him to look over things before he submitted them. 

Derek had finally conceded that Stiles could walk to the local library by himself. ("I'm eleven years old, thank you very much, I can walk the five blocks to the library myself.") 

Derek didn't really like it, but he wasn't always around and Laura thought it was safe enough for Stiles so there wasn't really anything he could do. 

Stiles always had dinner around six o'clock. That gave Derek enough time to eat with them if he was on a late shift, and time enough for Laura to eat if she'd been on a day shift. If it was the other way around it worked too, but if not Stiles always made meals that were easily reheated. 

Which was another thing-- Stiles had actually gotten a bit... domesticated. His cooking was-- well, it was better than Laura's, at least (give her a pizza and she'd burn it), but it was still pretty bad. Mostly he stuck to stuff that was easy to cook but bland and pretty unhealthy. It was frozen pizzas, or mac n cheese, or sometimes meat with steamed vegetables. Derek knew a couple of dishes; he'd spent a lot of time with Grandma Hale, demanding to know what she was cooking, what she was doing, why it smelled so good. He only wished he'd paid more attention now. 

Derek could make a decent bolognese, and a nice stew, because they were easy things to let the children help with. They were also the best for being reheated and eaten over a couple of days. 

The thing was, Stiles seemed kind of interested in the little bits he could do. Stiles was the kid at his ankles (well, chin _now_ and how the hell had he grown so quick?) that was asking, 'what's that smell, what are you adding, why does it smell so good?' Sometimes Derek wasn't sure if he was interested because he liked cooking, or if he was interested because he liked being useful and needed. 

Either way Derek figured Stiles would like the present he had for him. He'd seen it in their book aisle, half-price and not covered in swirls and flowers and thought, 'Stiles will like that'. 

He opened the door to their room to find Stiles lounging on the bed watching TV. Laura wouldn't be home for a few hours yet and Derek had all the ingredients picked out for one of the recipes. 

He walked in and dropped the bags over in the corner of their room that served as a kitchen. Luck had it that they had a fully functioning oven here—they had a shared bathroom, yes, but a fully functioning oven. Go figure. Someone obviously had a twisted sense of humour. 

Before he could ask, Stiles was there helping him unpack the bag and put the stuff in the fridge. 

"Hey, these aren't what I asked you to pick up. _Derek_ , I wrote you a shopping list for a reason..." Stiles eyed the bag of tomatoes suspiciously. "Why've you got tomatoes? What's going on?"

Derek snorted a laugh. "I got a present for you, think of it as a late birthday present." He held out the cookbook. 

"Derek, you didn't have to; I told you, I should have reminded you when my birthday was. I shouldn't have expected you both to just _know_." 

"Just take it, Stiles."

Stiles smiled. "Thanks, Derek. Is this what the ingredients are for? What're we making?"

Derek grabbed the book back off of Stiles and flipped through until he found the recipe, then handed it back. 

"Lasagna? Isn't that like, really hard? We don't even--" 

Derek held up a large, new ceramic dish.

"Oh. Cool!" 

*

Laura could smell garlic-- garlic and... meat and... tomatoes and... milk... Lasagna. She could definitely smell lasagna coming from their room before she'd even opened the door. Laura always showered and changed before she left the hospital. 

She entered their room and the smell was even stronger in the room itself. Oh god that smelled _fantastic_. 

"Please tell me that's for dinner?" she asked, dumping her bag next to the door. 

Stiles ran up to her and threw his arms around her. "It is! Derek got me a cookbook and it's _so cool_. We made it from scratch! Well, apart from the pasta sheets; we bought those. But we made all the sauces and it was really tricky because we've only got a small cooker, but---"

Derek was dishing up the lasagna onto two large plates and one smaller one. He walked over and handed the small plate to Stiles and one of the larger ones to her. 

"You used to really like lasagna." Derek didn't have to say _before_ ; it went unsaid. 

"I still love lasagna. What brought this on?" she asked, settling onto the bed and accepting the cutlery Stiles offered her. 

Derek shrugged. "I saw a book in the store, thought Stiles might like it."

"It's _awesome_ and Derek even brought home a load of ingredients too, I'm thinking tomorrow we'll have a chicken and cheese pasta bake and then on Friday maybe homemade pizza. What do you think?"

Laura chewed on the pasta and meat in her mouth; it was pretty good. She could taste where the meat had maybe stuck to the bottom of the pan and burned a little, but it was barely noticeable. 

She swallowed and smiled. "Well done boys, this is great. And yeah, I love the sound of a pasta bake."

Stiles beamed up at her, and even Derek looked pleased. 

They ate in silence until the gnawing part of their hunger was satisfied. Laura was the first to speak. "So, good day at the store then?"

Derek shrugged. "Nothing exciting. How was the hospital?"

"Usual, but I did catch the scent of another wolf on one of the wards today." 

Derek bolted upright. "Omega or--" 

"I don't know. It could just be a kid away at college. But I'm more concerned about why they're at the hospital... if it is an omega I don't really want them knowing I'm here."

Stiles frowned. "What's an omega?"

"There are three types of wolves: alphas, betas and omegas," Derek started to explain, looking to Laura to check she was fine with his explanation. She nodded. 

"You're a beta, and Laura's an alpha."

"Because we're in a pack-- it's a small pack and not as... powerful as it could be, but it stops either of us from becoming a lone wolf, an omega." 

"But... why would anyone want to be an omega?" 

Laura took over from Derek. "It's not always a choice. Maybe they've been cast out of their pack, maybe their pack has all died off or been killed, or maybe they did choose it. Either way it's not really a sensible choice; we're safer and more powerful in packs. Even just having Derek makes me a little bit stronger. But to form a basic pack that would be recognized by other packs I'd need at least three betas." 

Derek had gone back to finishing his dinner, while Stiles appeared to take a few moments to think through what she'd just said. 

"Don't you... wouldn't it make more sense to get more betas, then?" Stiles asked.

Laura paused. There was a part of her that really wanted more betas. She wanted the strength, she wanted the power, but she knew she couldn't manage two newly turned betas. Her parents had always been so wary of omegas; they said they were normally more trouble than they were worth. 

"It's not that easy, Stiles. I'd be responsible for those people, for teaching them and keeping them safe as well. I couldn't do that like we are at the moment, without any territory or a home, a den. It would be reckless."

"Could you not make _me_ a 'wolf? You're already looking after me, and you're already keeping me safe. Wouldn't I be more useful if--" 

" **No,** " she roared. She hadn't meant to answer with her alpha-voice, hadn't meant to let her eyes flash. Fuck. 

Stiles recoiled like she'd hit him and Derek cowered slightly away from her, hunching over his dinner plate. 

Nobody said anything. It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Stiles didn't move, just looked at her with wide eyes, stunned into silence. 

The silence stretched on and she knew she was supposed to break it. She tried to say something, but she couldn't quite get any words out. She didn't... she couldn't turn Stiles. He was too young, he was too precious. Anything could go wrong with the bite and she didn't want to risk him on something like that. It was more, though-- Stiles was impulsive enough as a human and she had no idea how that would translate into a wolf. She'd just got Derek under control and she didn't think she could deal with another wolf going feral on her. 

But she wanted to. She _really_ wanted to. 

Stiles was the first person to move, even afraid he couldn't sit still for very long, especially not this late in the day when his Adderall was wearing off. It started with a slight bit of fidgeting under her gaze until he got up and took his and Derek's plates to the sink and started washing them. 

Without Stiles there to fixate on, Laura looked at her brother. Derek was still sitting, hunched on the bed and she could see it was taking everything he had not to move as far away from her as possible. 

She placed her plate on the bedside table and moved forward, reaching out to place a hand on the back of his neck. She squeezed in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture and felt his muscles start to loosen as he sagged in... relief? Fuck, she didn't mean to fuck things up. 

Since she'd become the alpha there were these... instincts and urges that rushed through her. They felt so primal, so raw, and she had to stop and stamp down on them as quickly as she could with her rational, human mind. 

Laura leaned in close to her brother and rubbed her cheek against his hair, it was long. She felt him lean into her and she murmured quietly, "It's all okay, I'm not mad, I'm not angry. Everything's fine." 

How the hell was she supposed to be able to manage any other betas? She couldn't even look after Derek properly and she'd known him nearly her whole life.

"Stiles, leave the dishes, come back over here," she called.

Stiles didn't turn around and he didn't stop scrubbing at the dishes, which had to be clean already. 

" _Stiles,_ " she called again, keeping her voice soft, calm, and _human_.

He was quiet for another moment and she thought he wasn't going to answer, but then there came a slightly too-fast to be alright "It's okay, it's fine, the dishes need washing, I'll just do these. I didn't-- It's fine." 

"Stiles, come over here. Please?" she asked again, a hint of pleading that her wolf rebelled at in her voice. She should order; she shouldn't plead. No, she was human, and Stiles was human and she should _ask_. 

Stiles didn't look like he was going to stop with the washing up and she felt the need to order, to go over and demand he listen to her, strengthen. She just wanted to explain, she just wanted to apologize. All the feelings that had rushed up when Stiles had essentially _asked_ for the bite were still there, the wolf lurking just beneath the surface delighted by the idea and angry at being denied. 

Derek leaned into her and buried his face in her neck. Her wolf didn't like it, someone that could be a threat so near to her throat. She didn't care. Her wolf had scared Derek when she didn't want him submissive, she wanted him to feel safe. Knowing his alpha trusted him enough to let him this near to her throat... his wolf would love it. Besides, her wolf needed to learn its place... she wouldn't be ruled by her its instincts. 

Derek pulled back from her just enough to call. "Stiles."

Stiles turned away from the dishes to look over at the bed. 

Derek slunk back into her neck. Her wolf would hate what she was about to do which was so odd; being born a wolf, she'd never felt this disconnected from her wolf before. It was like the power that came from being an alpha had rushed straight to her head and her wolf was revelling in it. She didn't want to let it control her, to work based just on instinct. She was more than that and she needed to learn how to get both sides of her, rational human and instinctual wolf, working together as one person. She'd start by teaching her wolf a lesson. Stiles needed to know this and so he would. 

"Being a 'wolf is... it's all we've ever known. Like there's another part of us that has thoughts, feelings and urges that our human side doesn't always understand. Or agree with. My rational human side says it's not a good idea to make you a wolf, not yet anyway. You're young, we're not established... things could go wrong. But my wolf side is... pretty fucking on board with making you a wolf. It wants the pack to grow, for us to be stronger and safer. It's just instincts and basic feelings; it doesn't see the problems that it would create." 

Stiles was watching Laura cautiously but... hopefully?

"So, it's not that you don't want me to..." he asked, hesitantly. 

Laura shook her head gently, careful not to dislodge Derek where he still had his face buried in her neck. "No, Stiles. Just... it's not the right time." 

"When I'm older?" 

Oh, that didn't sound like this had just come out of the blue, this sounded like Stiles had been thinking about it. "When you're older, if you still want it, then yes, of course." 

He smiled. "I'll always want it. I'd never not want to be pack." 

"Humans can be pack too." 

"But wolves would be more useful in your pack." Stiles sounded so sure of himself. 

"Humans can be useful too. Don't ever feel you need to be a wolf to be one of us. You can be ours forever, wolf or no." 

Stiles's smile was blinding. "Hear that Derek? You're stuck with me foreverrrrr!"

Derek grunted a non-committal response. 

"But that's okay, because I can cook lasagna now!" 

Derek snorted and finally pulled away from Laura. "Well then, you better learn to cook something other than lasagna." 

This was better; they were talking and smiling. Discussion about the other wolf could wait for another day. "Oh, I don't know, I like lasagna plenty. I could eat it for at least the next year..."

"That's not a challenge, Stiles!" Derek said quickly. 

Stiles pouted. "Oh fine, I don't think I'd like to eat lasagna for the next year anyway." 

And like that they were back to something closer to normal. 

*

Derek didn't need a lot of sleep, and if he worked a night shift he'd spend the day lightly dozing on their bed as Stiles sat on the computer. It was an easy routine they had settled into. If Laura was home as well then they'd spend the day with Derek learning to drive, now the weather had cleared up some. This morning he'd come back from their morning run to find Laura wasn't at home; instead there was a note pinned to the side that said, 'Gone out for coffee, be back in a couple of hours. L xx'. 

So Derek had settled into a light snooze on the bed and Stiles had started on his first assignment for his first course. (It'd only taken a month for Stiles to get enrolled and underway with his classes, which Derek thought was a good turnaround.) 

Derek was drifting in and out of sleep. He could smell Stiles cooking something tomatoey for dinner and was trying to figure out what, in a meandering sort of way, when he heard the rumble of the Camaro drawing into the motel's parking lot. 

"Laura's home," he announced for Stiles's benefit.

"Oh cool, I was worried she wasn't going to make it home in time for dinner." Stiles grabbed another plate out of the cupboard and laid it next to the two he'd already set out. 

Derek pulled himself up on the bed. He could hear Laura's steps as she approached the room and was already looking at the door when she opened it. 

The first words out of her mouth were, "Now don't freak out. Everything's okay." 

Derek was on full alert immediately. What the fuck kind of words were they to open with? "What's wrong? What happened? Did--" And then he caught it. Laura reeked of another wolf, like she'd spent the day rolling around in their scent. 

"Who?" Derek bit out. 

"Remember I said I smelled another wolf at the hospital?" 

Derek nodded; it was hard to forget the conversation last month and the clusterfuck it turned into. 

"She's called Amy. She’s not an omega, she's a beta, a student at the college. She's been visiting her roommate who's in the hospital with a nasty break from a fall down a flight of stairs." Laura was watching Derek, obviously waiting to see his reaction. 

"Are you allowed to talk to betas from another pack?" Stiles asked. 

Laura shrugged. "She's away at college, by the time she goes back home they won't be able to smell it on her." 

"Is she... are you sure she's a beta?" Derek questioned. What if she was an omega that was just-- Derek didn't even know. 

"I'm sure, Derek. She’s nice; I think you'd like her and she's... she just misses her pack. She's a tiny bit homesick, I think. It's her first time away from home." Laura shrugged. "I thought I might ask her to run this full moon." Derek could hear the question there, hear her asking for his permission even if she didn't say it. 

"I wasn't planning on running this moon, I thought I'd stay with Stiles again." 

Stiles interrupted. "I don't mind. If you guys all want to go out and run, I'm perfectly fine being--" And he went back to dishing the bolognese sauce onto the pasta. 

"I know you are, but it's fine. We don't all feel the need to run." Derek silently repeated to himself, _whatever makes Laura happy_. He owed her her own happiness and so much more than that. 

"That's not what I was asking. Are you sure you don't mind me running with her, Derek?" Laura asked, frowning. 

He nodded. "Go, run, just... I like it here, Laura." He didn't want anything to go wrong, for there to be any reason for them to leave. His job wasn't thrilling, but Laura was happier working at the hospital, they'd already found someone locally to proctor Stiles's exams and... yeah. He liked it in the shitty motel without their own bathroom; it was beginning to feel like home. It was the longest they'd stayed anywhere since they'd left Beacon Hills. 

Laura's face softened. "Don't worry, Derek. There won't be any trouble." 

If he had to trust anyone with that statement it would have to be Laura. 

*

Stiles tried to keep up but he just couldn't. He stopped to catch his breath, leaning over and panting. Derek would realize Stiles wasn't behind him in a minute and come back for him, he knew he would. 

He loved running with Derek. His brain cleared for a little while and there was nothing but the trail in front of him and Derek's quiet breaths. It was nice. Derek was good at slowing down to run at a speed Stiles could keep up with. It wasn't too slow, not as slow as he'd been when they'd started this, but an eleven-year-old human was never going to be as fast as a sixteen-year-old werewolf. Derek didn't seem to mind and... maybe one day, when Stiles was fully grown, and when Laura gave him the bite, maybe then he'd be able to keep up with Derek. 

The days before the full moon Derek wanted to run harder than Stiles could manage, and he'd try and keep up with him, but he didn't always succeed. Inevitably Stiles would have to stop to catch his breath and wait for Derek to come back for him. He always did, never looking annoyed, only ever so slightly remorseful that he'd not noticed Stiles had dropped behind. 

Stiles was still panting hard when Derek came back into sight. 

"Sorry." 

"S'okay. Just let me catch my breath and we can carry on," Stiles said between breaths. 

"We can head back if you want." 

Stiles shook his head. "Nah, just let me get my breath and then we can finish it up. But hey, maybe you should go for another run yourself today? Not a wolf one, just, you know. You seem a little..." He didn't know how to finish. 

Derek scowled. "No, it's fine, Stiles. I don't need to. Besides, we're going to go through the local paper and look for advertising examples for your English assignment." 

"I can do that by myself; I probably should anyway. I'll make you lunch for when you get home?" he offered. 

"I... are you sure? I said we'd go through--" Derek obviously wanted it; Stiles could see it in his face

"I'm sure. Is it... is it about Amy?" Stiles hedged. He didn't want to pry but he was beginning to think it might do Derek good to actually _talk_ about things instead of just getting himself all... irritated and edgy. 

"It's just the full moon, Stiles." 

"But you're not normally this..." He waved a hand gesturing to the whole of Derek, and pulled an exaggeratedly scowly face. He thought Derek got the point. 

Derek snorted at Stiles's impression but actually answered his question. "Laura likes her." 

Stiles nodded. "That's okay, though. Right?" 

Derek shrugged. "It's... I don't know. I feel like Laura's mine, and it's... urgh, I don't want to talk about this, Stiles."

"Come on, you were doing awesome, dude." 

Derek huffed. "Don't call me 'dude'." 

"Fine, fine, tell me what's up." 

"I don't like sharing Laura. She... you normally only go running at the full moon with pack," Derek explained. 

"But Laura likes her, so that's okay?"

"No, Stiles, Laura _likes_ her. I can smell it all over her when she gets back from seeing her." 

"Oh, well, Laura's allowed to, yeah? And you've totally still got me for company. That's like... way better than dating some strange wolf." Stiles hadn't known that about Laura; Stiles had never even thought about Laura really _liking_ people at all. 

Derek snorted. "It doesn't work like that, Stiles." 

"Well. It so totally should. I'm awesome, go on, admit it!" Stiles straightened up and puffed out his chest. "Admit it!" 

Derek rolled his eyes. "I'll take it that means you're good enough to start running again. Come on, there’s only two miles left; if you make it in under fifteen minutes I'll buy you ice-cream."

Then he took off. 

Stiles laughed and shouted. "You can't run away from my awesome, Derek!" before running after him. 

*

The night of the full moon Laura picked Amy up from outside her dorm. She didn't need to get out the car; Amy knew the sound of the Camaro's engine.  

Laura was... she wasn't nervous; there was a buzz under her skin that felt more like _excitement_ than nerves. She still didn't have her alpha form down, but that didn't really matter. Tonight was just about enjoy the run, enjoying the _chase_ with someone else. 

Amy slipped into the car and Laura felt her vision swim red and her eyes flash. The girl in her passenger seat turned and grinned at her. Laura could see the amber glow of her eyes.

She threw the Camaro into first and pulled away from the campus. Oh. This was going to be _fun_.

*

Derek spent the full moon watching CSI re-runs with Stiles and trying really hard not to listen to the whines and growls he could hear in the distance. Seriously, did Laura have to lead the chase so near their home?

"Do you think there are werewolf police officers?" Stiles asked from where he was lying on the bed. He was on his front with his head propped up on his arms. 

"Probably. It's not like a club; I don't know all the werewolves in the world." 

Stiles 'hmmed'. "How many werewolves do you think there are in the world?" 

"I don't know, Stiles. I only know the packs our pack used to talk to." 

Stiles 'hmmed' again. "Do you think there are any werewolf serial killers?" 

Derek ran a hand over his face and tried to remind himself that he liked Stiles. To remind himself that Stiles needed to be protected. That he couldn't just... "We're missing the episode." 

"No we're not; Nick just matched the tire tracks to that guy’s car." Stiles pointed at the screen. 

Stiles was quiet for a moment and Derek thought that was the end to the questions. He was wrong.

"Can Laura turn into a real wolf?" 

Derek rolled his eyes. "I don't know, maybe. She's been trying the past few months."

"Do you think she'd let me pet her if she does?" 

He let his mind supply a mental image of an irritated wolf and Stiles scritching her behind the ears. He let out a little snort of laughter. "No, Stiles, I don't think so. You can ask her though."

"Do you--" 

Derek rested a hand on the back of Stiles's calf, which was lying near him by the head of the bed. "Enough. CSI." 

Stiles nodded, but of course was only quiet for a few minutes. "Do you think we'll stay here?" 

Derek tensed. He'd been thinking the exact same thoughts recently, especially since Laura seemed so taken with _Amy_. (No, he didn't say the name in a sarcastic voice in his head. He didn't. _Honestly_.)  

"Would you like to stay here?" 

Stiles shrugged, but craned his neck around so he could see Derek better. "It's nice enough, I guess."

He thought for a moment; that summed it up pretty well. There was nothing amazing about Hays, but then there was nothing that amazing about Beacon Hills, apart from the forests that surrounded it. 

"It's Laura's call; she's the alpha."

Stiles nodded and turned back to the TV. 

*

Derek was woken by the smell of fresh coffee, croissants and orange juice, and his entirely too cheery sister standing over him. 

"Morning, sleepyheads. I brought you breakfast!" 

He untangled himself from Stiles and sat up in the bed, scratching idly at his chest through the thin t-shirt he'd slept in. He eyed his sister suspiciously. There weren’t any marks, not on Laura at the very least, and she looked like she was wearing different clothes than yesterday. He took a small, experimental sniff to see if his nose could pick anything up. 

"Nice try, but I've already showered today, so you won't get anything from that. You'll have to use your words." She grinned and sat down on the edge of the bed. 

Derek scowled and prodded Stiles awake; if he had to put up with this perky Laura, so did Stiles. 

"Breakfast," he grunted as Laura handed him his own croissant and orange juic thee. 

Stiles blinked at the pair of them blearily, his hair sticking every which way. They should probably get him a haircut soon. He took the offered items and stared at them like he couldn't quite remember what to do with them. 

Derek rolled his eyes. "You eat them. Remember?" 

Stiles stuck his tongue out, but opened his orange juice and took a sip. 

"So, how was the full moon? Did you boys get up to any trouble while I was out?" Laura asked, eyes sweeping around the room as if to check nothing had been destroyed. 

"There was a CSI marathon on TV, so we watched that, but then it was all just a bunch of reruns so we went to bed."

"How was yours?" Derek's curiosity outweighed anything else. 

Laura grinned smugly. Well, that answered that. "It was good. No disturbances, no animal mutilations, no reason for us to need to leave the area." 

That news felt... relieving. Derek hadn't realized that he'd really meant it about not wanting to leave town. 

They sat in silence for a few moments as everyone munched on their breakfasts. 

"I want you to meet her," Laura said, looking more at Derek than Stiles. 

"Amy?" Stiles asked, like it even needed asking. 

Laura nodded. "Yeah, it's not really serious, but--" She shrugged. "It's nice being around other wolves, other people. I forget sometimes how much time we spend just the three of us."

Stiles frowned. "Hey, I spend loads of time with Sally." 

Laura's eyes narrowed and Derek let out an amused snort. Laura looked confused. 

"She's the geriatric librarian at the public library," he explained. 

Stiles grinned up at Laura. "She lets me take as many books as I want. But she says Derek has no fixed address so he can't take _any_ books with him." 

"Yeah?" Laura smirked at him.

Derek grudgingly nodded which caused Laura to chuckle. 

"So, what do you think?" she asked. "I thought maybe we could all go out and grab lunch one day?" 

"Not back here?" Sometimes Derek was willing to admit he was territorial over their room. Even when they ordered take-out he wouldn't let the delivery guys in the room.

"Nope, maybe the diner just off Main St, near the library? Say... Thursday at two?" 

Derek resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "You've already agreed, haven't you?"

Laura grinned. "Maybe. Now eat your breakfast; your shift starts in an hour and you've still got to  shower." 

*

Amy wasn't anything like Stiles had expected. When he thought about someone going out with Laura he'd expected someone in a pretty flowery dress, maybe blonde hair in a ponytail and... he had no idea _why_ he'd thought Amy would look like that. But, that's what his brain supplied him with when he thought of the word 'girlfriend'. 

She wasn't anything like that at all. She had bleach blonde hair, a leather jacket (no seriously, was this a werewolf thing they hadn't told him about?) and a nose piercing. 

Laura had led them into the diner with an arm slung around Stiles's shoulders, guiding him in as Derek trailed just behind them. 

"Hey Amy, this is Sam." Laura tightened her arm around his shoulder. "And the boy lurking behind me is Dave." She inclined her head. Stiles hated those names, and he knew Derek did too. 

Amy got up and offered her hand to Stiles; it was warm and smaller than his, which was odd because nearly no-one had hands smaller than him. 

"Nice to meet you, Sam. When Linda said 'kid brothers' I didn't quite realize you'd be so big." Stiles wasn't that tall, no more than five foot one, but Amy was only an inch or two taller than him. She was _tiny_. 

"Hey! Still a good inch or so taller than you!" she admonished, grinning at him. 

Oops. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. Derek was by far the tallest of the four of them. Where Laura stood at a comfortable five-seven, Derek was lurking at the back and hunched over but he could still see way clear over Laura's head. 

Stiles and Laura sat down on one side of the booth and watched as Amy offered her hand to Derek. 

For a brief moment Stiles thought Derek was going to refuse to shake her hand, and he could feel Laura tense beside him. But Derek didn't; he held his hand and even smiled at her. 

"Nice to meet you, Amy." 

She smiled back. "Nice to meet you too, Dave." 

They settled into the booth, with Derek squeezing himself onto the side with Laura and Stiles. Stiles elbowed him for it but Derek only grunted in response.

Stiles tried to focus on the meal, or the conversation, but since Amy had taken off her jacket all he could pay attention to were the amazingly intricate tattoos that ran up and down her left arm. They were beautiful. There were swirls, leaves, trees with animals hidden in the branches. It ran from a few small roots by her wrist all the way up her arm and disappeared into her tank top. 

A tapping on his arm disrupted Stiles from his fixation on Amy's tattoos. "Sam! What do you want to eat? Everyone else has ordered." 

Stiles looked up at Laura and sheepishly asked for a burger and curly fries. 

Derek rolled his eyes and muttered, "I don't even know why we bother asking you." 

Once the waitress had confirmed their orders she left them in peace. Stiles tried not to focus on Amy's tattoo again, but he'd never seen anything like it before. He'd only really seen old, worn tattoos in real life. Those on parents and teachers that they tried to hide away. Amy's was a piece of art and she was definitely not hiding it. 

"Do you like it?" Amy asked and Stiles looked right up at her face and blushed. He'd been caught staring; he hadn't meant to. 

"It's... it's so detailed, and there's all these animals hidden in the branches. Every time I look I see something I didn't see last time." He traced the tattoo again with his eyes, now he felt like he had permission to look. 

"I only got it done a couple of months ago; my pack hasn't seen it yet. They won't like it, but I don't care. My skin, my life." Amy grinned at Stiles and he felt himself go redder. No one ever paid attention to him, especially not someone quite so pretty as Amy. 

"I didn't know we could get tattoos," Derek said, interrupting Stiles's thoughts about... well. 

"Me neither! I went in to get my nose pierced and I ended up in this awesome tattoo parlor. They're witches, I think, or at least, magic users of some kind. It hurts like a mofo, but... yeah, they can tattoo us." 

Derek frowned. "You mean there's a magical tattoo parlor in somewhere as small as Hays?"

Amy nodded. "I know right? I was so excited when I found it. I think they mostly deal in regular tattoos, but they do tats for wolves and protective ones too."

Suddenly Derek's quietness was gone and he was asking question after question about Amy's tattoo. Stiles caught Laura's eye and they shared a smile. Maybe Amy and Derek could get along. 

*

After that things settled into a kind of rhythm, at least once a week they'd meet up with Amy for lunch. Laura saw her a lot more frequently and even started spending some nights creeping into her dorm room. 

Laura's birthday came three days before the June full moon and the original plan had been to have a quiet night in. Derek had made her a cake, and Stiles had lasagna ready for dinner. It was pretty sweet of them. 

They had presents for her as well, which Stiles sadly conceded that Derek had paid for. "But I wrapped them, because have you _seen_ Derek's wrapping?"

They were all propped up on the bed, Laura and Derek leaning back against the headboard, and Stiles stretched out on his front, watching Supernatural on the laptop. Laura felt her phone buzz in her pocket and heard the click of a new text being received. 

_How's my favorite birthday girl doing? x_

Laura grinned and tapped out a reply. _Watching Supernatural with the bros. Got the cutest presents, they even made cake. How are you? X x_

She dropped her phone onto the bed beside her and it quickly clicked with a reply. 

_I'm good. Wondering when I can give you your present. x_

_Bit of a family night tonight. Tomorrow sound good? I can come over to yours if your dorm mate is out. lmk X x_

Laura didn't bother letting go of the phone this time and a reply quickly came in. Derek glanced at Laura as her phone went off again; he looked put out that it was interrupting their TV-watching. 

She ignored him and opened the text. 

_But your present is ready right now. It's waiting for you. Can't you come and get it?_

Laura scowled. Amy knew she was spending tonight with the boys. _Sorry, promised the boys I'd spend the night with them._

The reply only took seconds. _But it's your birthday, you should be having fun._

_Spending time with my family IS fun. I'll see you tomorrow._

Laura was getting annoyed. 

_You're with them all the time. You should be out celebrating with me._

_I promised. Family's important to me._

Laura dropped her phone, she'd been happy before, and now she was agitated. Derek was shifting restlessly next to her, probably sensing her mood. 

The replies stopped and Laura tried not to dwell on it and instead get back into the episode of Supernatural. 

They were into their third episode of the evening when Laura's phone buzzed again. Derek glared at the phone where it sat on her knee. She didn't even know if she wanted to open it... except it was a picture message. 

She opened the picture and she couldn't help suck in a sharp breath. Motherfucker. That was so not okay. 

Amy had sent a picture of the Camaro. Laura's Camaro. It still had Derek's jacket folded over the passenger seat. Except, on the hood there was a pair of panties that Laura knew far too well. The message attached to it was simple: _Don't be too long; you live in a shitty neighborhood_.

What the hell was Amy doing? Laura had told her no and this close to the full moon coming over like this was just... unfair. Despite herself Laura felt a wave of want sweep through her, accompanied by a twitch in her clit. 

Derek's nostrils flared and he wrinkled his face in distaste; he looked over at Laura like the put upon baby brother he was. She stood up from the bed and moved towards the door. Derek followed her with his eyes but didn't say anything. 

"Hey, where are you going?" Stiles asked, turning to face her.

"I'm... just going to get a drink. Carry on watching, I won't be long. I don't like this episode anyway." 

"Cool. Can you grab me a diet coke?" Stiles turned back to the show. 

"Sure, kiddo." 

She walked back towards the door and could feel Derek's stare. Without letting herself think about it she grabbed the keys to the Camaro and left the motel room. 

***[skip the smut]

She heard Amy's heartbeat and smelled her before she saw her. The Camaro was parked around the back of the motel, squashed in the small parking lot between the building and the woodland behind the motel. The only rooms that looked out on it were theirs and their neighbors’. Laura liked it that way. The car was bound to get jacked if they left it around the front in the larger lot with the rest of the cars. 

Amy was perched on the center of the Camaro's hood, her legs crossed and forcing the short denim skirt she was wearing to ride up her thighs. She was leaning back on both of her arms with her underwear trapped between her left hand and the car. Amy's breasts weren't big by any measure, but she always knew what to wear to show them off perfectly and tonight was no different. 

Laura let out a low growl; she could feel her arousal building, but it didn't stop the irritation she felt towards Amy. 

"What are you doing here?" Laura asked, moving to stand in front of her. 

Amy's smile was absolutely wicked. "I'm wishing my girlfriend a happy birthday," she said, suddenly coy. 

"No, you're fucking with my birthday plans." Laura tried not to look, but she couldn't help but let her gaze rake over the girl on her car. Amy's cheeks were flushed, her arms taut with the strain of trying to look seductive and balancing on the front of the car at the same time. Laura could smell the heavy scent of her arousal. She glanced towards Amy's crossed legs, where the smell was the strongest. She could imagine leaning forward, spreading her open and _tasting_. 

Laura let out a long, low growl. "Quiet all of a sudden? You had plenty to say earlier..." 

She stalked forward right up until Amy's crossed legs were knocking against her hip bones. 

"This is what you wanted, yeah?" Laura placed her hands on Amy's knees and pulled them apart. She slid her hands up tanned legs and pulled Amy forward with hands hooked under knees. Amy rested her feet on the top of the car's bumper, the heels thunking against the hard plastic of the bumper. She had leopard print stripper shoes on, no surprise there. 

"Yeah," Amy whispered, throaty and low. She grinned and tightened her knees around Laura's hips. The move brought Amy's cunt right up tight against Laura's belly where she could feel the heat of it through her thin tank top.

Laura hadn't planned on leaving the house this evening; besides the white tank top she had only soft worn sweatpants and plain old cotton underwear. Not even a bra. 

Amy, however, was done up for a night in a club. The short denim skirt she was wearing low on her hips was now rucked up around her waist, and a black leather bustier with a zip down the front finished her outfit. The top was low enough that Laura could see the shiny magenta of her bra in the shitty glow of the motel's security lights. 

She moved her hands from where they were still resting on Amy's thighs and slid them slowly her up sides, over the rough denim, up her smooth bare skin. The girl beneath her hands was so warm, so soft, so _willing_. 

Running her thumbs over the soft leather at the sides of the bustier Laura leaned forward to nose at Amy's neck expecting it to be offered to her. Amy was smart enough to know that fucking a new alpha meant submission when requested. 

Amy didn't bare her throat; she just moved her own nose into Laura's neck. Laura pulled back, vision swimming with red. What the fuck?! 

Amy didn't look down, she didn't submit. She just met Laura's gaze dead on and smirked. Laura felt the beginning of a shift and she surged forward, using her superior strength to push Amy flat onto the hood of the Camaro. 

"Oh yeah, come on..." Amy urged, finally baring her throat to Laura. 

Laura climbed up onto the hood of the car, sliding Amy up until they rested against the windshield. Amy's head was turned to the side as she bared her throat and Laura placed her hand on the girl's face and smushed it into the hood of the Camaro. She was being too rough for a human, but Amy was a wolf; she could take it.

She could smell the rush of desire in the girl below her as Laura bit harshly into the straining tendon of her neck. Amy gasped and moaned, and tried to grind herself against Laura. 

Laura dug her teeth in harder in a clear ' _No_ '. 

Amy drew in a short, shaky breath and spread her legs wider, offering herself to Laura.

She dropped her hand from Amy's face, but kept her firmly pinned with her body and her teeth. She moved her hand down Amy's body, wanting to feel for herself how wet the girl was for her. 

Laura pushed a hand between them and went straight for her cunt, no softly trailing up her thighs, no light teasing touches. That wasn't what Amy had asked for when she'd refused to submit. 

She could hear Amy's pulse racing as she roughly pushed two fingers inside her. So wet she was dripping, Laura could feel the slickness running down into the crease of her ass and smearing onto the car. Amy tried to clench around the fingers Laura had inside her and made a mewl of disappointment; it wasn't nearly enough. Laura removed her fingers and brought them back up to Amy's face and held them in front of her lips. 

Without any urging Amy drew Laura's fingers into her mouth and licked at them, chasing the flavor of herself in every fold. 

Laura finally let go of Amy's neck and pulled back to look at her work. The girl's neck was a livid red, with the distinct impressions of Laura's teeth in the center of the mark. She ran her fingers over the bright red lines, more gently than any other touch she'd given Amy so far.  

"It's fine. I want it," Amy said, looking up at her from where she lay flat against the hood. 

Laura stared past Amy to her faint reflection in the windshield of the car. Her eyes were red, her teeth were out and her face had the crinkled look of her beta form. She took a deep breath to try and force the wolf down, but that didn't work so well, all it did was let her breathe in the heady scent of arousal, both her own and Amy's. 

Amy grinned up at her and moved her hands up to slowly peel down the zip at the front of the bustier until it was removed completely and she was left just in her magenta bra. Amy leaned forward and quickly under did the clasp but left the bra resting on her breasts. She arched her chest up towards Laura.  "Think of it as the bow on your birthday present..." 

Laura growled and grasped the warm satin of the bra, pulling it off and exposing Amy's nipples to the air; they were standing hard and erect. Laura leaned down and took one between her lips, roughly sucking and nipping at it. She let her hand wander to the other and pinched it hard between her fingers. Amy arched further into her grasp and brought her hands up to pet at Laura's hair.

 _No._ Laura pulled back slightly and let out a warning growl. Amy didn't get to direct her and push her down in any way. Laura could feel her wolf just beneath her skin, urging her to taste and take and force Amy to submit. Except Amy was doing it, she'd offered up her belly, she was letting Laura nose and touch... and taste all of her most vulnerable areas. 

Laura didn't want to fight her wolf; she spent so much time trying to tame it and listen to those instincts and... she didn't have to right now. Amy was playing, Amy couldn't threaten her position in the pack because there _wasn't one_ , but Amy was letting her assert her dominance and... fuck it, it was Laura's birthday. 

Laura drew back, grabbed the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head and let it settle behind her neck, hooked around her arms like a gun-holster. 

She leaned down and slid her way up Amy's body, letting her breasts brush against the rough denim of Amy's skirt, the soft skin of her stomach, feeling the sparks of pleasure they sent her that only made her wolf growl louder and demand _more_ , _now_. 

Laura swung one leg over Amy's and straddled her thigh. She pushed her cunt down, through the fabric of the sweats onto Amy's thigh. The pressure and friction felt _so good_ ; she started to ride Amy's thigh as she resumed biting and sucking at Amy's nipples. 

Her underwear was soaked through enough that it was clinging to her, she spread her legs wider and pushed down to try and get _more_ friction, more feeling. 

Laura could hear one of Amy's hands working herself, the squelching and slapping as she roughly rubbed herself. Laura moved from the nipple and started sucking and biting bruises beneath the swell of Amy's breast. She could see Amy's other hand clenching, like it was fighting the urge to reach down and tangle her fingers in Laura's hair. 

Laura reached up and pushed Amy's hand until she could grip the top edge of the hood. She pulled back from her skin to murmur, "Don't you dare fucking dent or scratch the car." 

Amy laughed, quiet and raspy, her hand and hips stuttering as she lost her rhythm. "You and this fucking car." 

"I like this car, alright?" Laura nipped at the tender skin at the side of her breast. 

Amy rolled her eyes. Laura could hear her hand starting up again at a slow and languid pace. Amy pulled away from her own cunt, her hand glistening in the fluorescent light as she smeared her juices over the hood of the car. 

"Don't I know you like this car. Why do you think I picked here?" Amy reached forward and pulled Laura up for their first kiss of the evening. As rough as all their interactions had been so far, their kiss was sweet and almost chaste. Although any notions of chaste vanished when Amy raised up her thigh and made Laura groan with the delicious friction it brought. 

She ground harder and faster against Amy's thigh and slipped a hand into Amy's slick cunt. Laura was taking no hostages; she licked into Amy's mouth and made it as filthy a kiss as she could. She sucked on Amy's tongue, bit at her lips, all the while working her hand furiously against her clit, dipping down to thrust her fingers inside and up, rubbing against her tight opening and up against the inside of her. She could feel Amy  
starting to tense up around her fingers, feel her clit get impossibly harder and the warmth around her fingers. 

Amy gasped into Laura's mouth as she came, juices flooding and knees clamping together in a move that would have thrown Laura off if she weren't an alpha. Laura continued to finger her through as her body swung to the side, unable to throw Laura off but wanting to the stimulation to stop. 

After a few moments and desperate groans from Amy, Laura broke off the kiss and withdrew her hand as Amy fell back limp against the car, basking in her post-orgasmic haze. 

Laura brought the hand she'd used to bring Amy off to her lips and slowly licked it clean. 

Amy watched her from beneath half-lidded eyes. "Urgh, you fucker. Why are you so perfect?" she complained half-heartedly.

Laura grinned and continued to ride Amy's thigh languidly, still not getting enough friction to get anywhere near coming, but loving the buzz each thrust gave her. The way it worked her up more, made her more turned on.

"You're entirely too coherent, you know that?" Amy said, eyeing Laura speculatively. 

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, are you going to do something about it?" she asked, reaching up to tease at her own nipples. She grasped harder at her own than she had Amy's; she liked the pinch, the sharpness of the pain. 

Amy sat forward and started pulling at the waist of Laura's sweats, trying to get them and her underwear off. She lifted up and let them be pulled off her, in one quick move she found herself open and bared to the world, shuddering at the slight breeze that cooled her dripping cunt and made her shiver. 

Pulling at Laura's thighs, Amy lay back down on the car and urged Laura up to straddle her face so she could brace her hands on the windscreen. The first lick of Amy's tongue was _yes, yes, yes_ but quickly followed by _more, now_. 

Instead of continuing, Amy pulled to the side and nosed into the crease of Laura's thigh. She breathed in deep, obviously enjoying Laura's scent, but Laura didn't care; she'd been so patient, and now Amy was so close and she wanted _more_. 

She shifted her hips over to the side and brought her cunt down on Amy's face. Amy still continued to tease her, with small licks that felt good, but weren't enough. Amy used her hands to open Laura up, parting her lips and forcing Laura's clit to stand out alone. She reached up to suck at it and Laura pushed down, barely checking that she was leaving enough space for Amy to breathe. 

Amy pulled back to the teasing licks but slipped one hand round to grab at Laura's ass. Laura let out a low growl that descended into a groan as Amy started back up with a fast brutal rhythm only to slow into a lazy lick like they had all the time in the world. Just because no one was likely to catch them didn't mean they could fuck like it was a lazy day off in bed. Laura wanted to come. 

Laura grabbed one of Amy's hands and moved it to grip the edge of the top of the hood. "You let go of that, and I'll get off you, okay?" 

She looked between her legs and saw Amy smiling up at her. "Yeah, good. Do it." 

Where Laura had been raised above Amy's face, she lowered her ass and let her weight drop some, grinding her cunt into Amy's face. Amy fucked into her with her tongue and Laura groaned. _Yes, good, more _.__

__Muffled sounds came from beneath her and while it felt so good Laura could feel the straining of Amy's chest, her lungs gasping for air. She lifted herself off slightly and Amy sucked in deep lungfuls of air. She let her get one or two before dropping down and riding _hard_ , Amy's nose bumped against her clit as she rode her face._ _

__Laura could feel the build-up almost reaching a head, she pulled back, bracing her arms on the car behind her and lifting up so she can fuck quick, rough and hard against Amy's face._ _

__Amy just held her tongue out flat and solid and let Laura ride it, harder and faster and it's so close, her orgasm is _so close_. Laura could feel it building, higher and higher; she fucked down harder and faster, her hips snapped backwards and forwards. She was so close, just a little more, _a little more_ , _a little more_ and then she was coming. The blinding moment of pleasure as everything tensed before _snap_ , the high continued and she was clenching, her muscles spasming and urgh, she let herself fall sideways off of Amy._ _

__Laura lay down next to Amy on the car as her breathing slowly returned to normal. She blinked as the red finally faded away from her vision. After a few minutes she glanced over to Amy to see she was still holding on tight to the top of the Camaro's hood._ _

__"You can let go now."_ _

__Amy looked over, face glistening with Laura's juices and a dopey look on her face. "Huh? Oh." She let go and brought her arm down to massage at it. She'd been gripping on pretty tightly._ _

__Laura snorted and shifted on the car. She felt the smear of her cooling juices slowly being spread on the hood as she moved; she'd really need to wash it before the boys saw it._ _

__She craned her head up and saw the smears on the windshield._ _

__Amy looked curiously at her, and followed Laura's gaze to the windshield._ _

__"Oh, that's a job well done and you know it is." Amy grinned._ _

__Laura smiled and let her eyes slip close; she let her senses stretch out and was surprised by what she didn't hear. Their room was silent. It almost sounded like the boys were in bed, except... no, Derek was still awake. Fuck, she'd said she wouldn't be long._ _

__She sat up and reached behind her neck to pull her tank top over and down. Jumping down lightly off the car, she grabbed her sweats and grimaced as she saw the damp patch darkening the crotch. Oh well._ _

__Amy was sitting up and pulling her clothes back on, having to sniff out her underwear as they'd been thrown so far from the car._ _

__Once they were dressed, Laura leaned over to brush her lips against Amy's in a quick kiss, anything more and she was worried she'd never make it back into the room._ _

__She looked over at Amy and felt pleased with herself; Amy looked thoroughly fucked. Her face was red and blotchy; there were a couple of hickeys still visible just under the edge of her bustier and her whole throat was a mottled mess of reds that were just starting to bruise. Laura could still see the outline of her teeth in Amy's throat. Amy was a beta and Laura was an alpha... she'd be wearing those marks for days._ _

__"I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked._ _

__Amy nodded, "Yeah, do you want me to--" She gestured at the car and made a motion that clearly indicated 'clean it'._ _

__Laura shook her head. "No, I'll get it sorted tomorrow just... Don't come near the motel again."_ _

__A look of hurt flashed across Amy's face and it spiked in her scent. Laura didn't want to deal with any of this right now. "It's not that; my pack's young. You know that, and Derek gets protective of it."_ _

__Amy smiled. "Yeah, sorry." She didn't sound sorry at all. "Lunch at the diner then?"_ _

__"Yeah, sounds good." Amy turned around to leave._ _

__*** _ _

__Laura should bring up how stupid it had been to challenge an alpha like Laura, how reckless everything she'd done here tonight had been. Laura tried to feel bad for letting her wolf rise up, to mark Amy like that, to dominate her like that but... she couldn't. Thank fuck Amy's actual alpha wouldn't be seeing her anytime soon, or that would be a clusterfuck waiting to happen. Amy was young, pretty and stupid; she was impulsive and in the middle of a rebellious phase Laura didn't know if she had the patience to be part of._ _

__Laura scrubbed a hand over her face and slowly started to make her way back to the room. Amy and Laura weren't anything alike, not really. Amy was enjoying her freedom, the tattoos, the piercings, dating a newly-made alpha. It was all just saying, 'fuck you, mom, dad, look what I can do'._ _

__Sometimes, Laura didn't understand how there was only a year apart. She almost wished she was still at college, getting tattoos and doing stupid things. Things that didn't really let anyone else down if you fucked up._ _

__Instead she was playing mom, trying to keep everyone safe and sane, and... Laura shut down those thoughts. They weren't worth having right now; it was probably just post-orgasm blues. There was nothing she could do now except what she was doing, though as she approached the door she couldn't shake the thought that maybe it was time to move on from Hays._ _

__***_ _

__When she went back into the room Derek was lying on the bed, reading a book. The boys were in the same position she'd left them in. Derek was sitting with his back resting against the headboard and Stiles lying facedown on the bed with his feet near the headboard. Except Stiles appeared to be fast asleep; he had his arms wrapped around Derek's calf muscle and was using it as a pillow._ _

__Laura raised an eyebrow at Derek as she quietly entered the room. He shrugged._ _

__"He fell asleep, then the playlist ended. I thought I'd wake him when you got back in the room so he only got woken once." Derek quickly glanced at Laura's crotch and looked away as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't._ _

__"Amy stopped by," Laura said, even though it didn't really need saying. Derek had probably heard the whole... conversation anyway._ _

__Derek didn't say anything._ _

__Laura didn't know what to say. She wasn't sorry so she wouldn't apologize. They'd both grown up in a house mostly full of werewolves; they'd heard and smelled people having sex long before they even knew what sex was. "I'll have to have a shower, are you okay to wait until I've done that before waking Stiles?"_ _

__Derek nodded._ _

__Laura grabbed a change of clothes and her shower bag. Derek still hadn't said anything; he was just following her about the room with his eyes. Laura didn't know what to say; she felt like there was _something_ she was supposed to be saying here. He knew more about her relationship with Amy than she'd ever really wanted him to know. She knew he'd heard the recklessness in Amy's behavior and she wondered if that worried him. It worried her a little and she... urgh, it was too late for too deep thoughts. _ _

__"I'll be back soon."_ _

__*_ _

__Oddly enough, the morning after she woke up to find that Derek had cleaned the car for her. She shot him a confused look but he merely shrugged. Amy and Laura ran together at the next full moon. It turned out it would be their last together because Amy was heading home for the summer._ _

__"I've got a summer job there and I miss my pack; I'll be back in September... I'll see you then?" Amy asked over their drinks at the diner._ _

__Laura shrugged. "We might be here. I'll see you if we're around, yeah?"_ _

__They parted with a chaste kiss and Laura didn't think she'd see Amy again._ _

__Stiles brought her ice cream and couldn't quite understand why she wasn't upset about it. He seemed more upset at the loss of Amy than Laura did. She thought Derek would look happier than he did about it, but he just looked oddly conflicted and was quieter than normal for a few weeks._ _

__Summer rolled on and Laura started to think about where they could head next. She was thinking about maybe heading further east, somewhere with a bit more noise. She didn't know; she had time, and there was no reason for them to feel unsafe in the area._ _

__*_ _

__It didn't take long for Derek to find the shop, but he was surprised by what he found. It wasn't run-down and it wasn't seedy. In fact it was the exact opposite of everything Derek had been expecting. There were big glass windows that proudly proclaimed, 'Tattoos for people with taste' and a brightly lit reception._ _

__Derek went in and walked up to the reception area, which was empty though he could hear someone moving about in the back. After a few moments of waiting, a man came out and settled into the seat behind the reception counter._ _

__"I want to get a tattoo," Derek said._ _

__The guy looked Derek up and down. "You'd be in the right place then. How old are you, kid?"_ _

__"Eighteen, nineteen in two weeks."_ _

__The guy snorted and held out his hand. "ID."_ _

__Derek opened his wallet and pulled out his fake driving license. The man studied it for a few minutes before looking up and shouting out back. "Paul, can you get out here please, we've got a customer."_ _

__There were a couple of minutes of awkward silence between Derek and the guy behind the counter before another man came through the door. The guy wasn't that old; he had a buzz cut and the kind of beard you only ever saw on elderly farmers. Or at least, Derek thought you only saw on elderly farmers._ _

__"This kid, Steve?" Paul asked the receptionist with a raised eyebrow._ _

__"Look, are you going to tattoo me or just stand about insulting me all day?" Derek asked, with a growl in his voice._ _

__The two men shared a look and Derek shifted impatiently. Paul gestured to Steve to hand Derek's ID over, examining it carefully before lifting his head to look Derek straight in the eye._ _

__"Where's your alpha, cub?"_ _

__Derek's eyes flashed. "I'm not a cub. Read the license; I'm almost nineteen and I don't need my alpha's permission for this."_ _

__Paul nodded and idly thumbing at the corner of Derek's license. "College student?"_ _

__Derek paused. They weren't 'wolves, he knew that much by now. They'd have been able to call the lie about his age if they were. He nodded._ _

__"Tattooing one of your kind isn't an easy thing. The mix for the inks has to be different from regular tattooing inks, and we have to put some... it's painful, kid. Are you sure you want to do this?"_ _

__Derek wasn't indecisive. He knew what he wanted, and he knew where he wanted it. He had since the second he'd seen the ink on Amy's arm._ _

__"I'm sure."_ _

__That seemed to be good enough for Paul. He handed Derek's license back to him and gestured for him to take a seat up at the stool._ _

__"So, what do you want?"_ _

__*_ _

__The first appointment they had free was in a week’s time. It turned out Paul was the main tattoo artist and Steve was his apprentice. Derek didn't want anything complicated; he just wanted a plain, solid triskele at the top of his back between his shoulders._ _

__He didn't need to explain to Steve or Paul what it was. They knew. Of course they knew. When Derek came back for the tattoo Paul pulled out a pile of sketches of all different variations on the triskele Derek had described. Some were ornate, made of threads of interconnecting knots; some were outlines that swirled on and on in tight spirals. There were every shape and size present on the page but... Derek didn't want something pretty. Derek didn't want something ornamental._ _

__Derek was getting the tattoo for a purpose, to remind him that now that the pack was just Laura and himself, he was one stupid move away from being an omega. Anyone had the potential to be an alpha. Before the fire he hadn't thought of himself as anything but a beta. There was no chance the pack was going to get small enough that he might end up a lone wolf, and there was no chance he would ever become alpha of the pack._ _

__He had a slew of older brothers and sisters, of aunts and uncle, even younger siblings and cousins that showed more potential than he ever had. Derek was sure Laura had never even considered the possibility that she might be an alpha one day. But the fire had taught him anything could happen, and he wanted to remember the lesson._ _

__The tattoo was more than that, more than just alpha, beta and omega. It was his pack and everything he had left now. It was Stiles, Laura and himself. It was the way each of them looked after each other, ready to lean on each other and be leaned on in turn._ _

__It was a reminder. It wasn't a decorative swirl. Derek pointed at one of Paul's smaller sketches in the corner. It didn't swirl on infinitely, it didn't end in leaves, it wasn't a complicated knot. It was bold, blunt and dark._ _

__"I want that one."_ _

__Paul shook his head. "That's not one of the options; I just had it there as a guide for the shape."_ _

__"But it's the one I want."_ _

__"This is forever, kid. Have something nice, something you can be proud of."_ _

__Derek shook his head. "This isn't for decoration. This is for me. This is a reminder-- I want the plain one."_ _

__Paul gave Derek a long look and sighed. "It's your money, it's your body. I'm thinking we want it bigger."_ _

__He sketched out a version of the triskele and eventually they agreed on placement and size._ _

__"You're gonna want to pay up front, because you won't be in a state to do it afterwards. Someone's coming to pick you up like we talked about, yeah?"_ _

__Derek nodded in agreement even though it was a lie. No one was coming; he hadn't even told Laura what he was going to be doing. She was working a night shift tonight and the pain couldn't last more than the day and night, surely. Stiles was home but he could deal with Stiles._ _

__Paul handed Derek his change and gestured for Derek to follow him into studio._ _

__"Take off your top and get up onto the chair."_ _

__*_ _

__Stiles was lying on their bed, working on a particularly boring math problem (he'd done a page just like them... how many did he have to do to prove he knew how to do them?) when a brisk knock came at the door. Stiles frowned. Everyone that should be coming into the room had their keys._ _

__The knock came again and he heard a voice say, "Does a Dave live here?"_ _

__Stiles didn't move; he had no idea if he was supposed to open the door or not._ _

__"I can hear someone breathing in there. Answer the door; I've got something that belongs to you, and he needs to lay down. Now."_ _

__Stiles was still trying to decide what to do when he heard a groan that sounded oddly like Derek. He walked to the door and hesitantly opened it._ _

__There was an old guy standing on the other side of the door and he was holding up Derek, who looked _terrible_._ _

__"Hey, kid. I had to use a tracking spell to find out who he belonged to. Stupid kid. Are your parents home?"_ _

__Stiles fidgeted from foot to foot. "We don't--" What was he supposed to say? "They died, but our sister looks after us, and she's at work--"_ _

__The guy looked angry. "Fuck, don't tell me, your sister is the alpha?"_ _

__Stiles nodded._ _

__"And she doesn't know anything about this guy getting a tattoo?"_ _

__Stiles shook his head. "Tattoo?"_ _

__The man let out an irritated huff. "Figures. I almost don't want to know anything else, because it seriously can't get worse." He pushed past Stiles and dropped Derek onto the bed._ _

__Stiles followed and the loud grunt Derek made when he hit the bed made Stiles race over to him calling, "Derek!"_ _

__"Fucking figures, his name's not Dave. Let me guess, he's not eighteen either?"_ _

__Stiles bit his lip; he didn't know what the hell to answer, so he just deflected. "What's wrong with him?"_ _

__"He got himself a tattoo, but the process for werewolves is a bit shit. The ingredients we have to use in the ink really fucks you up." The guy looked at Derek on the bed with pity in his eyes. "It's going to be bad for a few days, maybe more because he's so young. It'll kick his healing into overdrive trying to fight off the ink. Fevers, chills, probably some vomiting, and don't be surprised if he gets delirious."_ _

__Stiles's face must have reflected how horror-stricken he felt because the guy reached over and patted him on the shoulder. The guy immediately dropped his hand and gave Stiles a puzzled look._ _

__"You're not his brother."_ _

__Stiles frowned; there was no way the man could know that. "Yes I am."_ _

__"No, no you're not. There's a buzz to you, something slightly different. You don't get that in 'wolf families."_ _

__"Just tell me how to help Derek."_ _

__He handed Stiles a small packet of herbs. "Boil these in water and try and make sure he keeps some down. Give him a little bit every few hours until the fever breaks. Once that's gone he should be fine."_ _

__Stiles felt his panic coming back, and even in his sickened state Derek must have sensed it because he muttered, "Stiles," and reached out towards him._ _

__The guy looked over at him with a shocked expression on his face. "He's not been responsive for the last few hours; I thought he'd be out for longer."_ _

__Stiles moved towards Derek and put his hand on his arm._ _

__"No one I've tattooed has ever died... Stiles, is it?"_ _

__Stiles nodded. "He'll be okay?"_ _

__"He should be. Look, I'll leave my number, but I _don't_ need an angry alpha breathing down my neck, so don't go giving it to your sister." _ _

__Stiles promised he wouldn't and the guy handed him a scrap of paper with his number on it._ _

__"I'll be seeing you around, kid." Then he let himself out._ _

__Stiles looked over to Derek on the bed. He was shivering and he looked so pale. Derek never normally looked anything other than healthy. He scanned over Derek's body, trying to spot where the tattoo might be. He saw a few spots of blood high up on the back of Derek's shirt._ _

__The shirt was soaked anyway; it should probably come off. Derek wasn't small, and the muscle he'd put on since Stiles had met him just made him even heavier. He managed to pull Derek up so he sat against the headboard, but it hurt him. Stiles apologized for every gasp and groan Derek let out as he lifted him up to look at the tattoo._ _

__It was a dark swirl in the middle of his shoulder blades, or at least Stiles thought it was. Under the clingfilm that was taped to it there was so much blood and swelling it was hard to tell._ _

__He helped pull Derek's jeans off and got him settled into their bed in just his boxers. Derek was shivering as if he was freezing, but one touch told him Derek was burning up._ _

__Stiles wanted to call Laura, but she'd be _so pissed_ , and he didn't think there was anything she could do. Stiles was old enough, and Derek was always taking care of him. He could take care of Derek for a change. _ _

__"C-c-c-cold," Derek mumbled, burrowing deeper under the blanket. Stiles grabbed the other blanket they'd taken from the motel in Beacon Hills. He threw it over Derek and felt him settle for a little._ _

__Stiles carefully crawled under the covers next to him, offering Derek his back and feeling calmer when Derek curled himself against it. Derek buried his nose in the fine hairs at the back of Stiles's head and he shivered. Derek was burning up against his back, making it so hot under the blankets._ _

__Stiles had no idea what a good temperature was for a 'wolf, when it got too hot for them. He knew he should try and force him to cool down, but Derek shivered against his back and he found he didn't care._ _

__Stiles drifted in and out of sleep as Derek's breaths ghosted against the back of his neck; they were stuttery with the cold but not labored._ _

__When Stiles woke he found himself too hot. Way too hot; the back of his t-shirt was soaked through with Derek's sweat, which, ew, kinda gross. He shifted forward to pull the shirt off; he was too hot for it anyway. At least Derek was asleep now, eyes fluttering as he dreamed. Stiles settled back down and pulled Derek back against him, letting himself drift off again._ _

__The next time he woke up it was because he was _cold_. Derek had kicked off all of the blankets and was spread-eagle on the bed, pushing Stiles right to the edge. _ _

__Derek was mumbling, obviously caught in a fever-dream. "No... I didn't... please give them back..."_ _

__Stiles winced, getting out of bed and grabbing one of Derek's hoodies to keep himself warm. It was the black one he always grabbed and he almost thought of it as his, not Derek's._ _

__He remembered his mom running a cool cloth over him when he'd last been ill and she'd last been alive, so he slipped out of their bed and went to the kitchen, trying to find something to hold water, but the only thing of any size was a saucepan. He filled it up with cold water and grabbed a washcloth from Derek's wash bag._ _

__The first touch of the cool, damp cloth made Derek moan and try to pull away, but Stiles let it rest on his forehead for a moment and found Derek settling slightly._ _

__"Please..." Derek begged. "No... Kate, no..."_ _

__"Shh, Derek, it's okay, it's me, Stiles," he soothed, rinsing out the cloth and bringing it back to run it down Derek's face. He was so hot, _too hot_. He already ran warmer than a human as a wolf, but this had to be too much... _ _

__Stiles pushed Derek's hair out of his face, as Derek started to whimper. "I didn't... You're my _mate_..." _ _

__Fuck. Stiles had no idea what to do, so he just kept trying to help Derek cool down. It was going to be a long night._ _

__*_ _

__The first thing that hit her nose before she'd even opened the door to their motel room was the smell of fear and vomit. Fuck, what had happened? She burst into the room expecting to see the worst, someone dead, someone dying, someone..._ _

__"Derek!" she called as she entered the room. All of their blankets were piled high onto the bed and she could just see Derek's pale face peeking up from the top of them._ _

__She rushed over to him and placed her hand on his forehead. He was so hot, and the blankets were soaked through with sweat._ _

__"Derek!" Laura called again, cradling his face between her hands and willing him to open his eyes. The smell of vomit in the room was fresh, but she couldn't pinpoint a source for it. "Derek! Where's Stiles? Come on, baby brother, open your eyes..."_ _

__Derek groaned and she saw his eyes flutter slightly. She could smell a sour metallic scent coming from Derek. She pulled back the blankets to chase the smell and Derek whined and curled in on himself. She followed the smell to the top of Derek's back, and hissed at what she found there. There was a piece of clingfilm that looked like it had originally been taped to the top of his back, but he'd sweated it off. There was dried blood around the edges but she could just make out the shape of a tattoo underneath._ _

__She sighed and said softly, "You idiot, why the hell did you think this was a good idea?"_ _

__Derek's face was drawn and he had dark bruises under his eyes. She carefully stroked her thumb across his damp cheek before pulling the blankets back up around him._ _

__Laura wasn't panicking so much now that she could see Stiles had been here recently. There was a saucepan with a washcloth in it, sitting on a chair that had been drawn up next to the bed. She could smell the lingering scent of vomit, but she couldn't see any in the room._ _

__As if on cue she heard the jangle of keys as Stiles let himself into the room, holding their waste basket. He froze when he saw Laura sitting next to the bed._ _

__"Hey kid, take it you were washing that out?"_ _

__Stiles nodded in confirmation and hugged the clean waste basket tight to him. "I... he started throwing up at about four am, but I think he's stopped now. I thought I'd clean this while he was sleeping again."_ _

__"When did he get home?"_ _

__Stiles hesitated._ _

__"I'm not angry, Stiles. Just tell me."_ _

__"The tattooist... tattoo-er? tattoo-man?" Mornings before his Adderall were the worst time for Stiles._ _

__"Tattoo artist," Laura filled in._ _

__"The tattoo artist dropped Derek off about ten... he gave me some tea to give Derek, and said it should take a while for the effects to pass. Especially because, you know, he's young and all." Stiles was fidgeting with the basket in his arms, fingers tapping a beat out on it._ _

__Laura took a breath. "And Derek?"_ _

__Stiles looked over towards her sleeping brother. "He hasn't really said much since he came back. It's mostly muttering things as he sleeps, he keeps..." Stiles trailed off hesitantly._ _

__"Tell me."_ _

__Stiles took a deep breath and rushed the words out. "He keeps talking about the fire. Your parent's names, your name, I think... maybe your family's names? Daniel, Sally, Aiden, Ella, Elizabeth..." He hesitated again._ _

__"That's all?" She knew there was something._ _

__"Yeah."_ _

__He was lying, but whatever it was he obviously didn't feel comfortable sharing with Laura, and she didn't want to upset Stiles anymore. He was smart enough to know when something was dangerous or important to them, and while he might only be eleven years old she was content to trust him on this. Or rather her trust was stronger than her desire to upset him. Whatever, it'd do for right now._ _

__Laura was exhausted after her shift and she could see Stiles was too._ _

__"I... we need to give him some more of the tea. It might be easier with the two of us here?" Stiles gestured to a cup sitting on the bedside table._ _

__Laura eyed Derek speculatively. "I can hold him up, if you can get him to drink?"_ _

__Stiles glanced at Derek warily but nodded._ _

__"Okay, go get the tea."_ _

__*_ _

__The first time Derek woke up and was really aware of what was happening, it was dark outside and he could feel Laura and Stiles pressed up on either side of him. They'd obviously been asleep a while because Laura had rolled slightly away from him and Stiles had already knocked his pillows out of the bed and was using Derek's shoulder instead._ _

__He didn't want to disturb them so he settled back down and tried to go back to sleep._ _

__The second time Derek woke up it was already daylight outside, and Laura was gone. He felt terrible. His bones ached, his skin was hypersensitive, his stomach burned, and his mouth tasted horrible. He squinted at the light, which hurt his eyes, and tried to look for Laura. He found her sitting at the table with the laptop, already looking at him._ _

__"Was it worth it?" she asked, her voice pitched low so she didn't wake Stiles._ _

__He didn't know what to say; he didn't know if he knew the answer to that. Laura was still watching him so he shrugged._ _

__"Don't do it again, Derek. Don't be so stupid."_ _

__He nodded, he hadn't... he thought he'd be better, that he'd be able to heal without Laura knowing. He'd gotten the tattoo to remind him not to fuck up, and in getting it he'd nearly fucked everything up worse._ _

__"I'm sorry." His voice was hoarse, cracking as he spoke._ _

__"I know."_ _

__*_ _

__"Excuse me, does a Paul work here?" Laura asked the guy behind the counter._ _

__The man shot her a suspicious look before glancing over his shoulder and shouting. "Paul! There's a pretty lady here to see you! Get your ass down here now."_ _

__"Thank you." Laura smiled down at him._ _

__After a few moments an older guy came out of the door at the back of the studio. He paused when he saw Laura and was slow in coming towards her._ _

__"You're Derek's alpha?" he asked._ _

__Laura frowned._ _

__"You've got the same look to you, and you don't look like you're here for a tattoo. His ID was valid, and I honestly didn't think he'd be stupid enough to try and look after himself afterwards. I told him he'd need someone... look, we don't want any trouble here. I brought him back to yours, and I assume he's fine because you're not ripping my head off so can we--"_ _

__She was close enough that she could smell the fear and nerves on him. "Hey, stop. I didn't come here to argue or to threaten you. I came here to apologize."_ _

__Paul looked confused. "Apologize?"_ _

__Laura nodded. "And to thank you for bringing him home, and for the tea."_ _

__"I... it was the least I could do. I should have realized his license was a fake."_ _

__She shrugged. "It's a good fake, and sometimes Derek looks so serious that even I forget he's only sixteen."_ _

__Paul stopped. "Sixteen?"_ _

__"Well, seventeen tomorrow. But yeah, sixteen."_ _

__They both stood there in silence. Laura had said what she'd needed to say. She’d been warned never to upset witches, and Laura was entirely responsible for her pack's actions._ _

__"Well don't worry; if he comes in again, I won't touch him."_ _

__"That won't be a problem; we're leaving town this afternoon. Thank you again." Laura left the shop not long after; she still had to pack the car, anyway, and figure out where exactly they were going to be sleeping tonight._ _

__Hays had been good for them, while it lasted. But it was time to move on._ _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Biggest of thank yous to [Slumber](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Slumber/pseuds/Slumber) for beta-ing this, and [ing](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ingberry/pseuds/ingberry) for making me cut something. (Even tho I resisted her other changes. I probably shouldn't have.)
> 
> Sorry for the delay, but here it is! You might also note I've added a chapter. I thought I might have to do it for a while now, but I wanted to be sure before I upped it!

After they left Hays in August they spent the next four months not staying anywhere long enough to get steady jobs. It took a week of a subdued Stiles before Derek and Laura put two and two together and realized it had been a year since Stiles's dad died. They couldn't figure out what to say, or even if anything needed to be said. Derek took Stiles on a lot of long runs, and started working out in the mornings as well; eventually Stiles got louder and closer to the boy they'd seen coming through.

October was a hard month; the first anniversary of the fire came and went. The same way Derek hadn't let Stiles withdraw too far into himself, Stiles didn't let Derek get too lost. The October full moon arrived and Stiles stayed home by himself while Derek let Laura drag him for a run. It was the first time she shifted into her alpha form, a large grey-black wolf. When they got back in the morning she showed Stiles and even let him pet her.

Christmas was quiet too, spent in another faceless motel in Missouri.

It was early January and they were moving on again. The seasonal jobs Derek and Laura had picked up were done and there was no reason to stay. They were on the I-80 just outside of Franklin, Pennsylvania when there was a clank and the Camaro's 'check engine' lit up. Laura managed to pull over but the car wasn't going anywhere. They needed a tow to a nearby garage and when they got there it was clear it wasn't going to be a quick or easy fix.

"Have you got somewhere to stay tonight?" The mechanic, Steve, asked.

Laura shook her head. "Can you recommend a motel in the area?"

"There's a couple of decent ones just off the interstate. I finish up in an hour or so. I can give you a ride over there if you like."

Laura nodded. "That's really kind of you, thank you."

Steve went slightly bashful. "No worries, just being a good citizen."

Laura smiled up at him. "It's very much appreciated."

Steve seemed like a nice enough guy. He had sandy-colored hair and wasn't overly tall-- maybe the same height as Derek. He was solid-- mostly muscle, Laura thought, but she couldn't be sure. He'd been polite so far, and she could smell the hint of arousal as he spoke to her. But he was being a perfect gentleman. He walked Laura back through to the waiting room where Derek and Stiles were flicking through the old pile of magazines, trying to find something worth reading.

"You should be fine in here; there's free coffee over there and the toilets are just past the reception desk."

"Thanks, Steve."

"No problem," he said before going back to the workshop.

Derek looked up from the magazine he was reading. "What's happening?"

Laura sat next to him and let out a sigh. "They don't think the Camaro's going to be an easy fix; we'll need a place to stay for the night at least. Steve's offered to drive us over to a motel after his shift ends."

"Crap."

"Yeah," she agreed, grabbing a magazine and settling down next to the boys to wait.

*

Derek never liked their first night in a new place; it always took him a while to settle into the sounds and smells of a new room. For the past four months they had been moving _a lot_ and even Stiles noticed how irritable Derek had become with the constant changes. How on edge.

They checked into the motel and Steve stayed to help them unload their stuff into the room. Laura got one of those horrible three-person motel rooms, the ones with a bunk hanging above a double bed. They had one just after Hays and Stiles hated it; they'd tried to make him sleep in the bunk because they thought he'd like the space.

Once they unloaded everything, Laura walked Steve to his car, leaving Derek and Stiles alone in the room. It was still early in the evening and Stiles didn't have any schoolwork to do.

"What happens if they can't fix the car?"

Derek shrugged. "They will, or we'll get a new one."

Stiles thought about this. He'd never really considered money with Laura and Derek before. He knew they all earned enough from the jobs they picked up for food, gas and their rent, just. But he'd not thought about things like clothes and upkeep on the car, and his courses.

"Where does the rest of the money come from?"

Derek hesitated and Stiles suddenly worried that it was going to be something to do with the fire. Fuck. Bringing up the fire on their first day in a new motel was like the worst thing Stiles could do. He knew better than that, but sometimes he couldn't stop his mouth saying every thought he had.

"Forget I asked. Hey, want to play a game of--"

"It's fine, Stiles. We got everyone's bank accounts, after. They cover most things we can't with our wages. We haven't really touched... anything else. There was insurance on everyone and everything... it hasn't come through yet, but, I don't--" Derek stalled. "I don't want to spend it. But if the car's gone there won't really be a choice."

Stiles 'hmmd'. He hadn't expected Derek to answer.

"If there's not really the money, couldn't we just... find somewhere here and rent a house? Do we need to keep moving all the time?"

Derek huffed in annoyance. "The hunters, Stiles."

Oh. Yeah. Stiles had... well, not forgotten, but they weren't a pressing thought in his brain. They were like the bogeyman, something that Laura and Derek talked about, but he'd never seen them. "But... it's been over a year and we haven't heard or seen any hunters, right? When do we stop running?"

Derek shrugged. "I don't think we do."

*

Derek slept horribly that night; he always did the first night in a new place. The slightest sound woke him up, and when he did sleep it was uneasy and restless. It was worse this time because they'd left the blanket in the trunk of the Camaro. The one that smelled of pack and home and safety, the one Stiles had brought with them from the first motel in Beacon Hills. The closest to a piece of home they all carried with them.

Laura curled into one side of him and Stiles the other, but it still wasn't enough. He tossed and turned, even going as far as to accidentally elbow Laura in the middle of a nightmare. Morning came and no one was well rested. Laura was up and dressed before either Derek or Stiles had even braved leaving the blanket nest of their bed.

Stiles was lounging in the bed, drifting in and out and trying to catch up on the sleep he'd missed the night before. He heard the jangle of the room keys and opened an eye to see Laura about to leave their room.

"Where are you going?" he asked, voice heavy with sleep.

"Oh, you're awake. Steve offered to pick me up on his way to work and drop me back afterwards. I've got to go and look at the car and... I thought I'd grab the blanket."

"Yeah that's... probably a good idea. Do you think we'll be here long?"

Laura shrugged, getting that he meant Franklin, not this motel. "Might as well stop for a while."

"Cool, me and Derek will have a look around Franklin; we can find some stuff for dinner. Will you be back?"

"Assume I won't be; I'll leave the keys for you boys and I'll see you later." Laura moved over to the bed and dropped a kiss on Stiles's head. "Make sure Derek keeps his phone on him!"

Derek came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, speaking before Stiles had a chance to pass on Laura's message.

"I heard what she said."

Stiles wrinkled his nose. "Werewolves, I forget. So, I was thinking find somewhere for breakfast and then maybe a library? Or just have a look around the town? Oh hey, shit, do we--"

"Language." Derek said, half-heartedly, like he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"--Whatever, dude. Do we have any money? I forgot to ask Laura for some."

Derek chucked his wallet over at Stiles and continued getting dressed.

"Awesome, dude, we can totally pick up--"

"No curly fries," Derek said, not even bothering to pause in pulling his t-shirt over his head.

"Aw man, but we could just--"

"No. Especially not if you've not had a morning run. You'll want a coke with it and then, just, no."

"You're no fun."

Derek snorted. "Get dressed, we've got a town to explore."

"Urgh, _fine_. Hey, what about if we pass an Arby’s? Could we--"

Stiles wasn't expecting the towel that flew at his head, but he caught it anyway.

"Oh my god, Derek! Did you see, Derek?! I _totally_ caught it. And I didn't even know you were going to--"

Stiles didn't manage to catch his washbag.

*

Laura seriously didn't think she'd ever seen a reception that fucking bad in her entire life. The guy knew _nothing_ about cars. Laura didn’t know much either, but this guy knew like... less than nothing about them. He was young and so obviously not interested.

Laura didn't mean to step in, but the guys at the garage had been really nice to her, a couple of them even offering to run her into town while she waited for the car. It had become obvious the Camaro wasn't going to be a cheap job and she didn't want to go until she knew the full extent of the repairs. But, yeah, really nice guys with a receptionist that was totally fucking up. So, when she saw the kid stumbling with another client, not giving them half the fucking attention he should, she might have stepped in. And maybe been a little bossy.

When Steve came to grab her at the end of his shift she was sitting behind the reception desk dealing with a phone call from a client.

"No, that's fine, Tuesday at three works. Just drop your keys into the front desk-- okay, yep, mmhmm." She wrote down the customer's details before thanking them and hanging up the phone.

Steve was looking around the room. "Where's Chris?"

"Who's Chris?"

"The kid that normally sits here?"

"Oh, he stepped out to take a call... a little while ago," Laura hedged, just in case Chris was something like Steve's little brother.

Steve snorted. "That figures. I wish Jane wasn't still on maternity leave. He doesn't even want the job; his dad owns the place and has him working the desk 'til we can find someone else."

Huh. Well, that was good to know if the car... "Did you get a chance to look at the Camaro?"

The wince that crossed Steve's face told Laura it wasn't going to be good news.

It wasn't. It was... a lot of fucking money to get the car sorted.

"How long have you guys got to get where you were heading?" Steve asked.

Laura sighed heavily, running her hands through her hair. "We aren't... we didn't have a destination in mind. Guess I better start looking for a job around here. Don't suppose you know of one going for a med school dropout?" Laura asked self-deprecatingly and half joking. They were really fucked. No way would Derek let her get rid of the car, and she didn't really want to touch any of that money.

She didn't even notice the calculating look in Steve's eyes as he stared at the pen she was tapping on their appointment books.

*

Derek was busy washing up their plates when he heard the hum of a truck pulling up and Laura getting out of it.

"Open the door, Stiles. Laura's home."

Stiles pulled open the door just as Laura got to it, a grin on her face.

Stiles perked up at that. "Good news?"

Laura scrunched up her nose. "Kinda. The the repairs on the Camaro are a lot of money. Like, _a lot_."

"How is that good news?"

"Well, I got a job at the garage as a receptionist and Steve's offered to do the repairs out of hours for a lower fee."

Derek's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why would he offer that? Why's he being so nice?"

Laura shrugged. "Sometimes people are just nice, Derek. They don't need a reason."

Derek snorted. "People always need a reason."

Laura was looking at him with a look that he didn't like. It was almost like she was pitying him, but that was stupid. People didn't do nice things for people unless they were family. Steve was either trying to trick them or he wanted something.

"He's just being friendly, Derek. Let’s face it; we could use some friends right now."

Derek didn't say anything. It seemed stupid trusting someone they'd just met.

"Derek, don't be so... I've already accepted the job, and we're not going _anywhere_ without the car. So you better get looking for a job of your own."

Laura was his alpha, her mind was made up and... that was it.

"And we need somewhere to stay, this place is way too expensive to stay long-term. So, Stiles, fancy working with Derek finding us a new place?"

"Yeah, I can do that. How much do we have to spend?" Stiles asked, grabbing the laptop.

"I'll have to see what I get as pay and I'll let you know, okay? Try and keep it somewhere near the garage?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Well, Franklin it was.

*

Stiles flipped through the classifieds and sighed. There was literally nothing in the area they could get within their price range. It'd been two weeks and this was getting ridiculous. Even including the money Derek was bringing in from his job at Walmart (again), it was either a stupidly long bus ride for all of them each day, or they had to find more money somehow.

He sighed again, rolling the newspaper up before he started walking back to their motel room. He was five doors away when he heard the telltale sound of Derek and Laura arguing. That... didn't usually happen. Oh, they argued, but normally they cut out as soon as he got within hearing distance, so he only ever came into a room with an oppressive silence.

They weren't stopping though. Stiles walked to outside their room and... it wasn't really eavesdropping if the whole freakin' building could hear.

"No! I don't care, Laura! It's too much, too soon; there's _got_ to be another option." He sounded... really angry.

"Derek, stop being such a stubborn dick. It's not permanent; he's got the room _for all of us_."

"How do you even know we can trust him? We've only known him two weeks! What if this whole thing is a set-up by the hunters, what if--"

"Derek, that would be ridiculous! There are easier ways to kill us! Look, not every human we meet is a hunter. It's fucking perfect and Steve's been nothing but kind to us since we got here. Stop being so fucking suspicious."

Derek didn't say anything.

"Look, I know you don't like change, and I know you like your space. I could ask him to stay out of your and Stiles's room? We can't say no... It's too good, Derek. You boys would be walking distance to town and I wouldn't even need to get the bus in; I could ride in with Steve."

Derek snorted. "Oh, yeah, _ride in with Steve_ , because that's what this is all about, isn't it? You smell of arousal when you're around him, and so does he! You just want someone you can fuck within easy distance. Screw the rest of us and our safety."

"Derek Hale! You take that back now. I know you were raised better than that, and what's this even about in the first place? I'm not the one freaking out every time there's a strange smell near our room!"

"Maybe I freak out! But I'm just trying to keep us safe, which is more than I can say for you! You don't give a damn about us! You probably even want to fucking turn him!"

Stiles didn't want to disturb them but they were shouting werewolf things for all of the motel to hear.

He pushed open their door and caught sight of the pair of them. Laura and Derek were toe to toe, both their eyes flashing and staring at Stiles.

"Um, guys? You're kinda shouting about--" He dropped his voice to a whisper-- "the thing we don't shout about." He made his hands into fake claws and pulled what he thought was a growly face. They obviously got the picture.

Laura took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thanks, kid." He could see her trying to calm down, after a few moments she smiled over at him, deliberately not looking at Derek. "I got some good news: I found us somewhere to live."

Stiles didn't have a chance to respond before Derek was pushing past him.

"I'm going for a run." He walked out the door and didn't bother to close it behind him.

Laura looked after Derek for a bit before turning back to Stiles. "He'll be back."

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. Derek would never leave them. "So, do we need to pack now?"

"I'll check with Steve when we can move in but... yeah, probably. The sooner the better."

"Okay."

*

Steve picked them up from the motel and drove them over to his place. "I got the house when my parents passed. It's been just me living here since; my brother and sister moved out of state," he explained as they pulled up outside the property.

It was nice enough; it was a three-bed semi with a small run-down yard and a garage. It worked out pretty well, or it would have, if they hadn't been so used to sleeping together. There was Steve's room, a room for Laura and a room with two beds in for Derek and Stiles.

"It's been too empty since my mom died, so it'll be nice to have a family in here again," Steve said, smiling tentatively at Laura.

Derek had spent the entire ride looking out of the window and scowling while Laura chatted with Steve about work-related odds and ends. Stiles didn't... he felt like talking to Steve was betraying Derek, and he'd never do that in a million years, so he'd tried to stay quiet too. Tried.

"Hey, you boys even get your own beds; that's got to be a nice change, right?" Steve said, all bright smiles.

Stiles felt bad so he tried to smile back, no matter how much he didn't like the thought of sleeping alone again. "Yeah, that's... great."

Laura gave his hand a small squeeze of thanks. He'd tried.

Stiles dubiously eyed the two single beds in their room the second he saw them. One didn't look like it would be comfortable with the pair of them sleeping together in it but... what if Steve thought they were weird if they pushed them together?

He dumped his backpack at the foot of the bed nearest the door and went back out to the truck to grab another bag to bring in. They didn't have much stuff but Laura and Derek were trying to not look like werewolves and carrying only a bag or two each.

The only thing left in the truck was the blanket from their first motel room. Stiles carried it in through the house and up to their room. When he got there he found Derek sitting on the bed nearest the door and Stiles's bags had been moved over to the one near the wall.

"Hey, I liked that bed!"

Derek shot him a sour look and didn't answer.

Stiles huffed. "Fine, you're such a grump sometimes. Here, I got this for you." He held out the blanket to Derek.

Derek regarded it cautiously, like he wanted it but didn't think he... deserved it?

"Derek, don't be stupid, take the blanket."

"It's yours. Steve's blankets don't look that warm," Derek said, still not looking away from it.

"Well, it can sleep on your bed for the first few nights," Stiles offered, pushing the blanket into Derek's arms.

"I know what you're doing, Stiles," Derek said, holding the blanket close to him.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I'm not exactly subtle, dude."

"You'll take it back if you get cold?"

"Dude, if it gets cold I'm climbing in there with you. I'm totally not made for northeast winters."

"Stop calling me 'dude'."

"Stop being such a sourwolf."

Stiles caught the pillow Derek threw at him. "You're not getting this back now. I consider that your way of _gifting_ it to me."

Derek glared.

Stiles laughed... which ended in a _manly_ 'meep' as Derek tackled him onto the bed.

"No fair, Derek!" Stiles squealed from under him. "You're totally cheating and using your you-know-what."

Derek was going for his ribs like a mean tickle-tormentor that he was and didn't stop until Stiles was flushed and breathless, holding out the pillow for Derek.

"Fine! You win! Take the pillow! Take the pillow!"

Derek took the pillow and flopped next to Stiles on the bed. They both lay there for a moment, quiet in the room except for Stiles's panting breaths. Eventually they quieted down too. 

"It might not be that bad here," he said, tentatively, not wanting to look over at Derek.

"We'll see."

*

Derek slept horribly the first night and so did Stiles. Derek couldn't relax enough to let himself drift off and Stiles spent most of the night tossing and turning, reaching out for someone who wasn't there. This was stupid.

Stiles was helping Steve make the dinner which left Laura and Derek alone in the front room watching the TV. The house felt like it hadn't changed in years; the TV was nice and new but all the pictures and ornaments felt like they were living in a mausoleum. Derek guessed Steve hadn't changed much since his parents had died. Derek got that; if they had the house but not their family he didn't think he'd let a single thing change.

"I want to push the beds together."

Laura looked up from the TV at Derek. "It's not normal, Derek. Stiles is almost twelve and what twelve-year-old wants to share a bed with a seventeen-year-old?"

Derek breathed out heavily; he thought Laura might argue this. "Look, we're here in the house, why can't I just..."

"Do you remember being his age? Do you remember wanting privacy? He's almost a teenager and being a teenage boy is confusing, Derek. He doesn't need you all up in his space. It's better you split now before it becomes... awkward."

"But Stiles doesn't want us to split, and I don't want to. We're werewolves, it's not the same as for humans."

"Derek, even _before_ ," Laura began and Derek winced. He fucking hated the word 'before'. "We didn't sleep like this for so long. I should have split us up earlier, but I didn't--"

"I've moved into this stupid house for you. I'm playing nice with Steve. Why can't I just have this? It's not like we're hurting anyone."

He saw Laura's glance towards the kitchen and dropped his voice again.

"Please, Laura? Just for a little bit longer..."

Laura sighed. "Derek, can we try to be normal, just for a little bit? Just a week. If he's not settled in his bed by the end of the week then fine, you can push them together. But give it a _chance_."

Derek scowled at his sister, but there was no way Stiles was going to settle within a week, so... "Fine. A week. From yesterday," he said, sullen and stubborn.

"Fine," Laura agreed, the same stubbornness reflected back in her voice.

"Hey! Dinner's ready!" Steve called from the kitchen. "Stiles is the best kitchen assistant I've had!"

Derek's scowl deepened and Laura rolled her eyes.

"We're coming!"

*

Derek managed to sleep a little the second night, but he was woken up by the sound of Stiles falling out of his bed. Derek was kneeling next to him before he was even fully awake.

"D'rek? What... Did I just fall out of bed?" Stiles rubbed his side like it hurt him.

"Yeah, you fell out. Here, let me..." Derek helped Stiles untangle himself from his sheets and crawl back into the bed.

"I don't like it here; it's not... " Stiles sighed and shifted around under the blankets. "Why can't we push the beds together?"

"Laura thinks it'll be better for you this way, since you're growing up and..." Derek trailed off. This was now officially an awkward conversation. "I promised we'd try."

Stiles pouted. "Well... she didn't say you couldn't spend a bit of time in here, right?" he asked, hopefully.

Derek eyed Stiles warily. "Not... exactly..."

Stiles threw the covers back. "Go onnnnn, just until I fall asleep again?"

Derek sighed but crawled into the bed and let Stiles snuggle into his side.

"That's better," he murmured, bringing an arm tight around Stiles.

"Night, Derek," came a muffled voice from his side.

"Night, Stiles," he said back, quietly.

Derek didn't mean to fall asleep there. It was just... he was so tired, and it smelled so right there now, with Stiles a warm weight against his side, Stiles's even breathing... in... out... in...

*

Derek woke up and found Laura glaring at him from the end of the bed. Stiles's bed. Fuck.

"One night, Derek. You didn't even last one night. You didn't even _try_ ," she said, sounding more disappointed than angry.

"It was an accident," he said, pitching his voice low so he knew only she would hear. Stiles shifted in his sleep, like he could sense Derek was awake anyway.

"How do you accidentally fall asleep in someone's bed, Derek?" Laura crossed her arms over her chest, the picture of the stern sister.

"He fell out and asked me to stay until he fell asleep... except I fell asleep too. Listen to me, I'm telling the truth."

Laura was quiet for a moment and he could see her resolve weakening. "Give it one more night? It'll be better in the long run if you can, Derek. I promise. I'm... I'm only trying to make things easier for us all."

Derek felt pretty shitty. He'd just assumed Laura was bossing him about because she wanted to appear normal in front of Steve, but he could hear she wasn't lying as clearly as she could hear he wasn't.

"I'll try," he promised.

"That's all I'm asking," she responded. "Come on, wake Stiles up. We're making pancakes." When she saw him hesitate she added, "Blueberry."

Derek let a small smile show. "Alright, but you have to make sure he doesn't have more than a couple. He'll be bouncing off the walls otherwise."

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

*

The third night, Derek tried. He really, really tried. He didn't... he wanted Laura to be happy, and she was probably right; they'd have to split the beds up sooner or later and now was as good a break as any. He managed to settle into a light but restless sleep.

He smelled smoke. It always started with the smell of smoke. The next thing he heard was the sound of Elizabeth crying. She was only five, she sounded _so scared_. More cries, the screaming of his dad, the howling of his mom…

"Derek!" they shouted. "Derek!" They knew this was his fault, they _knew_.

He should stop this. He should have seen this coming and stopped it. Now they're burning and there's nothing... Kate... her laughter echoed around his dreams.

"Stop it!" he shouted. "Please! We've done nothing to you! Kate, please..."

He dropped to his knees and begged her, but there was nothing he could do. "Kate... I loved you..."

There was only more cruel laughter from Kate.

"Derek..." a voice whispered. That wasn't Kate's voice. That was... who was that?

"They're burning! I need to stop it!" Derek told the voice.

"Derek... come on, wake up, no one's burning anymore."

"They are! I can smell them!"

"Wake up, come on. Wake up and you won't smell them."

Derek woke up to find Stiles wrapped tight around him and whispering in his ear.

"Hey Derek," he greeted.

Derek swallowed. He hated waking up, thinking it was all a dream to remember it _wasn't_. He might have been dreaming but that had happened. They were gone; he'd gotten them all burned to death. Little Elizabeth, Alice, Ella, Aunt Sally, Uncle Daniel, Uncle Peter, and so many more. All gone.

Derek whimpered and drew Stiles closer to him. He had Stiles now, and he had Laura. He didn't deserve them, but he wasn't alone.

"It's okay, Derek. I'm here," Stiles whispered and wrapped his arms tighter around Derek.

Derek dragged his cheek over Stiles's head and ran his hands along his back. His. Stiles was _his_.

"Go to sleep. It's okay, I'm not going anywhere."

Derek drew in a few more breaths of Stiles's scent before letting himself settle back and slip into sleep.

Fucking Kate.

*

Laura didn't comment that third night; she could probably smell the stale fear and distress on Derek. He knew he could. He reeked of it, and it was disgusting.

The fourth night, Derek was going to make it work. He was. They were sitting in front of the TV, all four of them. Steve was on the armchair and Derek and Laura were on the sofa with Stiles sprawled across them, his head pushed up against Derek and his feet digging into Laura's side. Steve headed to bed first and Laura followed not too long afterwards.

"Don't stay up too late, Derek. He looks like he's asleep already," Laura said, looking down at Stiles curled up into Derek's side.

"'m not asleep," Stiles slurred without opening his eyes. His feet curled into the warm space Laura had left.

Laura smiled fondly down at him. "Sure you're not, kiddo. Not too late boys, okay?"

Derek nodded and went back to watching Criminal Minds. He liked that there was a TV character that shared his name; you never saw a cool good guy called Derek. Not really. Grey's Anatomy doesn't count.

When the episode ended and Derek started looking for the remote to switch the TV off, he found Stiles clutching hold of it.

"One more episode?" he asked, hopefully.

"It's late and we've got things to do tomorrow."

Stiles pouted and stretched out on the sofa, dropping his head down onto Derek's lap. "But this is so much nicer than bed. Just one more episode?"

Derek sighed. "Fine, one more episode, then bed, okay?"

Stiles grinned up at him. "Yay! There's another Criminal Minds ep on as well. I _love_ Hotch. I bet you love Derek; you're such a _narcissist_ "

How did Stiles even know that he liked Derek? But he didn't like him because of-- Oh. "Well done on the use of the word. Even if you're not using it right. That's not why I like Derek; he's the most badass character."

"No way, Garcia is the most badass character. _Derek_ is just the hot one with the gun. If I keep working out do you think I could be that built?"

Derek snorted. "Maybe, now shut up and watch the episode."

Stiles huffed in annoyance but dropped down into silence.

*

Derek's neck ached. Like, seriously ached, but that wasn't what-- oh shit, not again.

"I told you two to go to bed." Laura was standing above him, frowning down on them.

Somehow in the night Stiles and Derek had settled so they were curled around each other on the sofa in the living room. The TV had put itself to sleep and the remote control was still tightly grasped in Stiles's hand.

"I didn't--" Derek began but what could he say? He kept breaking promises to Laura and that made him feel _terrible_.

Laura sighed and settled on the arm of the sofa. "It's going to be awkward, when he gets older."

Derek nodded. "I know, I just... he'll grow out of it eventually. I just... can we for now?"

Laura dropped a hand down to stroke over Derek's hair and he leaned into the touch.

"I know Steve will think it's weird but..."

"Don't worry about Steve, Derek. Just, go on, you can push the beds together."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, but you're giving him The Talk when he gets old enough. And dealing with all his awkward teenage emotions." Laura grinned.

Derek snorted. "That's fine, you wouldn't know what to say to him anyway."

"Hey, I'll have you--"

"You guys, I'm awake. Stop talking about me like I'm not. Why's there a talk, what--"

"And that's totally my cue to go to work. Have fun!" Laura quickly got up and almost raced out of the room.

Derek looked down at Stiles who was still curled around him.

"What talk?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell you when you're older."

"No, hey! Tell me now! I'm old enough!" Stiles was awake and fidgeting and the sofa really wasn't big enough for the two of them side-by-side if Stiles was fidgeting.

Derek pushed him off.

"Hey! Don't try and distract me!" Stiles complained.

Derek got up to get showered and dressed, leaving Stiles sitting on the floor.

Just as he left the room he heard Stiles call out after him. "Tell meeeeeeeeeeee!"

*

The insurance money came through in early March, a week after Stiles's twelfth birthday. Laura didn't mention it to Derek or Stiles, because she couldn't see what good it would do them. Things were.... things were almost nice. They'd been living with Steve for almost two months now and nothing horrific had happened.

She could still smell the low hint of arousal coming off Steve, but he'd never made a move and didn't look like he was going to anytime soon. He was... ridiculously sweet, all polite manners and offers to do things for her. She got that Derek couldn't see why Steve was doing anything for them but she thought he was just lonely.

When they'd arrived at the house the only fresh scent had been Steve's. No friends, no family scents that weren't years old. It wasn't a small house and it made her worry what Derek might have been like if he didn't have Stiles and Laura. Stiles was anything but quiet and if sharing their pack with this lonely stranger helped make them a home for a little while, well, it wasn't hurting anyone.

Steve worked on the Camaro a couple of nights a week and Laura stayed to give him a hand, passing him tools and getting intimately familiar with her car. She liked it. Cars weren't so different from people-- at least, not from the inside. The same fascination she'd held about how to make people better transferred, maybe not easily but eventually, over to cars. Before she knew it she was asking Steve question upon question about what he was doing, how he was doing it.

"You wanna learn, Laura?" he asked when he found her trying to peer underneath the car to get a better look at what he was doing.

Laura jumped back, caught. "It's interesting, is all. I'd never really thought about cars as a... thing, before. A whole unit. It was just something that got me from A to B, but... you almost treat them like people."

Steve pushed himself out from under the car. "They're a lot like people. They break and need to be fixed, they get temperamental and they need some attention or they rust away. You treat your car right and it'll get you where you need to be. I think I like cars more than people, though. Cars I get. When something's wrong, I can fix it. "

Laura smiled down at him. "That sounds like something Derek would say." She offered Steve an arm and helped him up.

"About cars?"

"No, about not getting people."

"He doesn't seem so bad. He gets on with Stiles well enough."

"Stiles is family; he can cope with family. Anyone that's not, well..." Laura sighed. "You've spoken to him."

Steve nodded. "I thought that was just... me," he said, with a slight wince.

"No, that's most people. Derek doesn't-- After what happened Derek doesn't trust people very easily."

"I don't blame him. People can be pretty mean, sometimes," Steve said with a knowing voice.

Laura looked away; she hadn't meant to drag the conversation down. They'd been so happy working on fixing the Camaro. Steve just reminded her of Derek so much sometimes that she figured it was probably part of the reason they weren't getting along so well.

"I was thinking about maybe taking the boys out to try and play ball when the weather picks up a little. Do you think they'd like that?" Steve asked, fiddling nervously with the wrench in his hands.

And Laura got it. He really cared about wanting them to feel at home and that was... that was really cute, actually. Steve was plenty good-looking but she'd never really wanted to try for something else, but that made her almost feel like she could love him a little bit. Like he was someone who needed to be loved.

"What do you know about lacrosse?"

*

Stiles fully had plans to spend the day lounging in front of the TV with Derek watching crappy Saturday morning shows and enjoying the fact that he didn't have any assignments due until early May and it was only early April. However, when he made it to the sofa with his bowl of dry cereal (Derek forgot to pick up milk, _again_ ) he found Steve standing there with two lacrosse sticks. You didn't grow up in Beacon Hills without knowing what a lacrosse stick looked like.

He paused on the mouthful of dry cereal he was chewing to stare at Steve. Stiles didn't bother to swallow before he asked, "Who's playing lacrosse?"

Steve grinned at him. "We are."

Oh. Huh.

"Go wake Derek up and we'll head to the park when you're both dressed. How does that sound?" Steve was smiling in a way that made Stiles want to smile back. He was fiddling with the sticks all... nervously? Something like that. Stiles swallowed his cereal and eyed Steve a little suspiciously.

"Please?" Steve asked, hopefully.

Stiles shrugged. Why not? What harm could a game of lacrosse do? "Sure, I'll go wake him up."

*

Stiles was never playing lacrosse again. All of his memories had been vague recollections of going to watch high school games with his family. As it turned out, Derek had... lots of feelings about lacrosse and a lot of... wolfy-rage associated with it. It hadn't gone well.

The drive back from the park was quiet. Derek was sitting sullenly on one side of the truck's cab, looking out of the window and Steve was very quietly driving, wincing every time he had to change gears.

Laura met them at the door, her eyes zoning in on where Steve was rubbing his shoulder and the broken lacrosse stick Stiles was carrying. Stiles could almost see her putting the pieces together before she said, "Derek, finish unloading the truck and then go to your room. I'll deal with you later."

Derek didn't say anything, just did as she said. She turned her gaze on him.

"And you, Stiles, are going to tell me what happened."

Stiles sighed. Yeah, he was never playing lacrosse again.

*

Steve didn't really make an obvious effort with Derek again after the Lacrosse Incident (Yeah, that's what Laura called it in her head). He was still friendly enough but he didn't go out of his way to try and get Derek to like him.

Stiles ended up oddly torn between them. Stiles liked being liked. He was friendly enough to people who showed him a little bit of attention and... Steve did that. On top of that, Laura had asked Stiles to be nice to Steve, so he was. But Derek didn't like Steve, and if there was one thing Stiles didn't want to do it was to disappoint Derek. Which Stiles obviously felt he was by being friendly towards Steve. The difference between Stiles and Steve when Derek was home compared to when he was at work was ridiculous.

Laura didn't know what the hell to do and every time she tried to make the situation better, it just made it worse. (See: The Lacrosse Incident.)

But tonight Laura wasn't going to think about it. It was her birthday and she was going to celebrate it by taking a break from Derek and his attitude problems. When the guys at the garage had insisted Laura go out for her birthday she'd tried to shrug them off. Then Steve had brought it up at dinner and before she knew what was happening _Stiles_ was offering to let himself be babysat by _Derek_ and insisting she go out.

Laura had never really been one for dressing up. All of her 'party' clothes had burned up and since then she'd been a jeans-and-tank-top kind of girl. The May evening was warm enough that she didn't need a jacket. Apparently with the guys from the garage 'going out' meant heading down to their local bar, which wasn't a world away from how she thought she'd spend her twenty-first birthday.

She'd learned her lesson after the first set of fake IDs, so she'd kept the ages just a bit older than they were and changed their surnames, but she'd kept their first names this time. She didn't think she could stand to be called 'Linda' again. The guys from the garage thought this was her twenty-second birthday and she wasn't going to do anything to correct them.

Except, it wasn't. This was Laura's twenty-first and it was a million miles away from anything she'd be doing for it. Drinking had never been a big thing, but she'd been looking forward to celebrating with her human friends, her human family. Letting them try and get her drunk and fail. Would she have had a big party at the Hale house? Would she have celebrated at college with her friends there? Would she have snuck Derek into wherever they were? Would--

Laura sighed. It was stupid thinking about anything like this. This was her birthday and she was going to enjoy it. She wasn't going to worry about Derek, she wasn't going to worry about hunters, she wasn't even going to worry about that low-grade smell of arousal that was still coming off of Steve. Mostly because she was finding it something she naturally wasn't worrying about anymore.

She walked into the living room to find all the boys watching TV. Derek and Stiles were lounging on the sofa in just boxers and t-shirts, heads resting on opposite arms of the sofa and their legs tangled together. Stiles was trying to convince Derek to change the channel and Derek was steadfastly not complying.

"Come on, Derek, I've _seen_ this one already. The baby meerkat's going to die and it's going to be horrible," Stiles whined, kicking at Derek to try and get his attention.

Derek didn't say anything, just caught Stiles's kicking foot in one hand and turned up the volume with the other.

" _Derek_ , it's sad! I don't want to watch the sad one! Can we watch Criminal Minds again? I bet there's a marathon on on _some_ channel, or hey, what about seeing if they're airing _anything_ other than this?"

Stiles wasn't really distressed, no matter how much he might whine. She turned from the boys over to Steve who was sitting on the armchair watching Derek and Stiles with a small smile on his face. Steve looked... he looked good. He'd shaved and was wearing one of his nicer flannel shirts.

Laura moved to stand behind the sofa and quickly snatched the remote out of Derek's hand and chucked it over to Stiles. Derek scowled at her and Stiles let out a cackle of delight.

"Ahaha, see, Laura doesn't want to watch dying meerkats either!" Stiles crowed, quickly flipping channels. "You're so morbid sometimes, Derek."

Steve stood and looked Laura up and down, grinning brightly. "You look lovely."

Derek snorted; Stiles whacked his leg.

Laura smiled back at Steve. "Thanks, you ready?"

He nodded and grabbed his keys.

Derek and Stiles were both sitting up to peer over the back of the sofa and watch Steve and her leave.

"Remember, no movies that'll frighten Stiles before you sleep, and don't stay up too late."

Derek rolled his eyes and Stiles gave her a quick, sloppy salute. "Aye aye, captain."

*

The bar was good. Laura didn't even pretend to drink much, letting people think she didn't like the taste instead of having to pretend to be drunk. Steve was sober too because he was their ride. She came out of the warmth of the bar into the cool evening air and realized the night had been fun and she'd really enjoyed herself.

She slipped her arm through Steve's as they made their way back to his truck. He was a good head taller than her and way steadier in his boots then she was in her heels. Laura quietly hummed the last song from the bar, some trashy pop number but it was... she was happy. Her pack was safe at home, she had... she had almost-friends, she wasn't worried right this second about the hunters, nothing.

Her wolf was happy, like it had territory. It was enjoying the night as much as Laura was. It was willing to look past the things not-quite-right. Derek's sullenness, the always-there reminder of the hunters... Right this second, she felt like she could do anything. Franklin was good for her pack.

"Good night?" Steve asked, taking note of Laura's grin as he opened the door.

She leaned back against the truck instead of getting in. Steve's face was a picture of confusion. The flush of his cheeks, the dilation of his pupils and the low thrum of arousal was still there from Steve. Always there, but even more so now. They'd been living with him for nearly five months now and in that time he hadn't tried anything. When she looked at Steve she just felt... fondness. There wasn't the need-want-must-have she'd felt when she saw Amy, this was just... she felt like she wanted to let her wolf out to roll in his scent. He smelled like them, he smelled safe.

"Whatcha thinking, Laura?"

"Kiss me," she commanded.

His pupils dilated _more_ , the flush crawling up his cheeks but he didn't look away from her. In fact, his eyes seemed glued to her lips.

"What?" he asked, disbelief in his voice.

She grinned up at him. "If you want to, kiss me, and I know you want to, so..."

Steve kissed so hesitantly, it was barely even a brush of lips against hers. His lips were dried and chapped and they scraped against her soft lips. Laura reached forward to pull him down and kiss him _properly_.

*

Derek opened his eyes and stretched out on their bed. Stiles was tangled in most of the blankets and was hugging all the pillows except for the one Derek firmly had his arms around. The sun was just lighting up the room and he could smell... something he really didn't want to know about.

He reached over and tugged the pillow that Stiles's face was smushed into, dislodging Stiles, who didn't even wake up. Derek brought the pillow filled with their scents up to block out the faint smells coming from next door. It was probably coming out of Steve's bedroom window and straight into their open one. He should shut the window, but it was July and it was really hot. Too hot to sleep with the window closed.

Derek knew it would happen eventually, but, yeah, he didn't like to smell it, to know it was really happening. Laura had fucked the mechanic. He knew they'd been a thing for a couple of months, since her birthday. They must have waited until ridiculously late and been ridiculously quiet for him not to have heard it. Derek didn't... Derek didn't want to share his pack. He was the person Stiles should be looking up to, he was the person Laura should be leaning on. He wasn't the one they should be worrying about; he was just making everything more stressful. He didn't mean to, it was just all... too soon.

Every time Derek told himself he was going to make things easier for Stiles, easier for Laura, he just did something that made things harder. He wanted to trust Steve, he really did, but under it all there was the sinking thought of, _he's only doing this so he can fuck your sister_ , _what if he's a hunter and is just waiting to see if you know of any more werewolves_ , _what if he knows Stiles isn't really yours and is just waiting to take him away from you_.

Derek knew hunters could wait, plan, and fuck whoever they needed to kill as many wolves as they wanted to. They could be as patient as was required, as fake, as nice as needed. They'd do anything to kill your pack. Kate had been all coy smiles, a damsel in distress; she'd taken the time to get to know him, waiting until as many wolves as possible were gathered in one place and then she'd--

Derek let out a small whine. He tried to clamp down on it but he couldn't help it. The pillow wasn't enough; he reached an arm out and around Stiles to drag him closer.

"D'rek? What?" Stiles muttered sleepily, blinking over at Derek and squinting over the bright morning light.

"Shh, go back to sleep," Derek murmured, settling Stiles against him and pushing him down to rest against Derek's shoulder. Derek wrapped his arms tight around him and listened as Stiles settled back into sleep.

He couldn't let anything happen to Stiles, to Laura. He couldn't... he couldn't trust Steve, no matter how nice he seemed to be, now matter how _harmless_ he appeared. Humans weren't to be trusted. They just betrayed you. He couldn't tell Laura how he knew this, he couldn't tell Laura how devious they could be, that would mean he'd have to admit what happened, what he'd _let_ happen.

How he'd helped Kate kill all of their family.

Stiles pushed his face against Derek's chest the same way he had with his pillow pile and Derek took a steady breath, taking in everything about right now. He could do it. He could stay alert and on guard. He could make sure nothing ever happened to the people he loved again.

*

Steve finished working on the Camaro in August, just before Derek's eighteenth birthday. Derek hadn't wanted to do anything for his birthday again, so it was just take-out and presents. And a cute cake made by one of the girlfriends of the other mechanics. Derek didn't like it. At all.

"Why did she make me a cake? She's never even met me," Derek said, regarding the cake suspiciously.

Laura leaned in close so Steve wouldn't see or hear. "Derek, just eating the fucking cake. Sometimes a cake is just a cake. I talk about you sometimes, alright? And they thought it would be nice."

Derek let out an annoyed huff. "Fine, but if I eat the cake, you can't have any. What if it's somehow--"

"I swear to God, Derek, if you say 'poisoned'."

" _Fine_ , I won't say it, just... please?" Derek asked, and tried to make his voice convey how worried this was making him. Derek sucked at showing emotions, he knew this, and he knew he sucked at coping with things too.

"It'll be fine, kid. Now come on, before Stiles opens all your presents for you." Laura steered Derek out of the kitchen and into the living room where Steve was trying to stop Stiles from feeling up all of Derek's presents.

"Derek! I think this one's a book! And these rattle, but I can't figure out _why_." Stiles held out a present to Derek. "Open this one first, though! It's from me."

Derek took it and flopped next to Stiles on the sofa. He could already tell what the present was, and he could guess who'd helped him buy them.

"You really shouldn't have," he said, to Stiles and Laura.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Stop doing that thing and just _open them_."

Derek did and pulled out a new pair of trainers, ran his hand over them appreciatively. Stiles was crowding him, eagerly watching Derek and his new shoes.

"They're the ones you wanted, right? With the--" He gestured at the soles. "Cool sole things?"

"Yeah, thanks Stiles, thanks Laura."

Laura held up her hands. "Oh, no, that's all Stiles. I'm just his backer." She settled onto the arm of the sofa next to Derek. "Go on, open Steve's next."

Steve had gotten him a patterned sweater. "You can never go wrong with clothes," he said, shrugging.

Derek thanked him and let Laura hand him his final presents. Before he even opened them he could tell what Laura had gotten him. He knew the feel of a sketchbook in his hands, and he could smell the wood and lead of the pencils through the thin wrapping paper.

He pushed them back into Laura's hands. "I don't want them." Derek didn't... he couldn't. They were something else from before, they were...

Laura's face dropped. "I thought you might want to start again..." 

Derek shook his head. "I don't do that anymore. I _can't_." His sketchbooks had burned in the fire, along with all the pictures of his friends, his family, his home. All of it. The only sketchbook he'd had with him that day had been filled with pictures of Kate. He'd burned that himself.

Laura sighed, accepting the presents back and dropping them onto the coffee table. "I guess it's time for cake then."

Derek never commented on the way the wrapped presents ended up in one of Stiles's clothes drawers. Stiles could have them, he didn't want them.

*

A week before the anniversary of the fire in October, Laura woke up to Derek standing above her, hissing her name.

" _Laura_ , wake up!"

"Derek? What time is it?" she asked, sitting up in bed and pulling the blankets tight around her. She wasn't particularly clothed and neither was Steve.

"It's four a.m., but, it's Stiles..." Derek looked so anxious and his scent was all _worry_.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's got a fever and... I don't know what to do. _Laura_ ," he whined.

"Okay, go grab the thermometer out of the bathroom and go back to your room. I'll be there in a sec."

Derek rushed out of the room to comply. Laura stepped out of bed and felt around for her dressing gown. It was enough to wake Steve up.

"What's wrong, Laura?" he asked, voice rough with sleep.

"Stiles has a fever and Derek's panicking. Nothing to worry about, I'll be back in a bit," Laura said, dropping a kiss onto Steve's lips.

"There's some Tylenol under the sink in the bathroom," Steve rumbled before rolling over and heading back to sleep.

Laura walked into the boys’ room was assailed with the cloying smell of sickness. Stiles was red hot to the touch and fidgeting uncomfortably in the bed.

"Laura?" he slurred.

She dropped a hand onto his forehead. He was really burning up. "Yeah kiddo, it's me."

"'m cold."

"I bet, kid, but you're burning up."

Derek came back with the thermometer, a glass of water, and the Tylenol-- he must have heard Steve mention them.

Laura took Stiles's temperature while Derek hovered anxiously nearby. It was high, but it could be worse.

"Okay, Derek, help him sit up and we'll give him the Tylenol, then you can keep him warm if he's still complaining he's cold. If his temperature gets much higher you can try and cool him down. Just... it should be okay. Uncomfortable, but okay. Humans do this sometimes."

Derek sat on the edge of the bed and held Stiles as Laura carefully handed him the water and tablets.

"Wouldn't happen if you made me a 'wolf," Stiles muttered, so quietly Laura nearly missed it.

"No, it wouldn't, but other things might," Laura said, carefully pushing Stiles's hair away from his forehead.

She could hear Derek's heart speed up.

"Y'said we could talk about it when I'm older. I'll be thirteen in February," Stiles said, all stubborn determination even though he was shivering.

"Older than that, kiddo."

Stiles frowned. "How old?"

"Older." She didn't want to deal with this now, especially not when she still wanted to turn Stiles, to make him stronger.

She pulled back from the bed before he could force a set age out of her. "Come on Derek, help me straighten up the bed and then you boys try and get some sleep."

*

Derek called in sick to work the next day; it wasn't like he'd actually ever need to do it for himself. Stiles had kicked all the blankets off himself around lunchtime and was trying to fitfully sleep. Derek just... he felt helpless. There was nothing he could do to make Stiles better and he hated it.

Derek had started bathing him down as his temperature rose, and had to stop himself doing it more often than he should. Laura had left instructions for him before she'd gone to work, and told him to call anytime. He knew he was worrying, just... he didn't really remember any of his human relatives getting ill. Or rather, he'd never been the one responsible for them. He knew they got ill, and no one worried. It was just a thing humans did. Derek didn't like it.

Derek tapped his foot restlessly from the other side of the bed to Stiles. He didn't want to leave Stiles, but he just... he needed a distraction. He found himself moving over to their chest of drawers without even realizing it.

The pencils were really nice; it was a sketching set in different grades, with another pack containing his preferred hardness from his favorite maker. Laura had really put a lot of thought and effort into the present. The sketchbook was beautifully bound, with thick paper, and it made Derek feel bad.

Derek sighed and settled back onto the bed. He didn't even need to think about what he was going to draw. Derek looked over to the feverish Stiles next to him. The first lines on the paper were stuttered and hesitant, but they felt good. The next lines flowed freely.

*

Stiles had been watching Derek for the last twenty minutes at least. Derek hadn't realized, he was sure, because if he had he would have stopped what he was doing. Stiles didn't really remember much from the last little while, but he felt... well, disgusting but better. His fever had broken but he felt achy and weak. And gross, did he mention gross? The sheets were soaked through with his sweat; it was horrible.

Derek was engrossed in the sketchbook in front of him. He'd look up at Stiles every now and then and Stiles would hold himself really still. He hadn't really understood why Derek had freaked out over some pencils, but Derek was... Derek was hard to predict sometimes.

Stiles kind of wanted a drink, and even though he hated to ruin what Derek was doing, he couldn't put it off any longer. He reached over to the nightstand to see if there was any-- aha, yes-- he grabbed the glass of water there and gulped it down. He could hear Derek closing the book and moving it away.

"I didn't realize you were awake. Do you-- do you need anything?" Derek asked, trying to push the sketchbook behind him.

Stiles plucked at the t-shirt that was stuck to him with his own sweat. "Uh, yeah. I need a shower. And... not to be in bed."

"Sure, let me grab you some clean sweats and I'll give you a hand," Derek said, getting off the bed and not-so-subtly dropping a pillow on top of the sketchbook.

Stiles sat up and pushed the blankets away from him. He didn't recognize the blanket that was laying on top of him, although it looked kind of like... "Derek, is this... this is the blanket from the Camaro. The one with--" Stiles didn't know how to say the scent of his family on it. Stiles didn't like mentioning them, it never made Derek anything but sad. This was the blanket he'd been wrapped in when he met Derek. So he lamely finished with, "You didn't have to."

Derek was frozen at the drawers, a pair of clean sweats in his hand. "I... it's okay, Stiles."

Stiles bit his lip. "No, I... thank you, but you didn't have to. It's... it won't smell right any more, will it? It won't smell like your family anymore."

"Yes it will." Derek's voice was quiet but sure.

"Oh, even with the smell of me all over it?"

Derek was quiet for a moment and Stiles didn't think he was going to answer. Derek's reply when it came was soft, and he wouldn't look Stiles in the eye. "You're family."

"Oh." Stiles didn't know what to say to that. "You're... you're family too, Derek."

Derek's shoulder sagged like he'd been worried what Stiles was going to say about his hushed confession.

"Come on, this t-shirt's getting cold and it's _so_ gross." Stiles plucked it away from his skin and fanned it slightly so the smell spread out across the room.

Derek rolled his eyes and threw a clean shirt at Stiles. "You wash; I'll find some clean sheets."

*

Apparently everyone shared Laura's delight at making Derek dress up for Christmas because Steve couldn't stop laughing as he told her about his trip down to the Walmart at lunch time.

"He was wearing _an elf hat_ with a little _bell _on it that jingled every time he moved," Steve said, gasping for breath.__

__Laura cackled. "Oh my god, please tell me he had that little grumpy expression he gets when he has to do something he really doesn't want to--"_ _

__"Eyebrows and everything! He looked so angry no one was going _near_ him it was hysterical."_ _

__Laura wiped a few tears from her eyes. Maybe it was mean but... Derek was still being so grumpy and withdrawn. The only thing that made Laura feel like he wasn't just pulling away from her completely were the hints of the sketchbook she'd seen about the house. She'd seen it a couple of times and wanted nothing more than to open it, to see what he was drawing but... he obviously didn't want her looking so she wasn't going to._ _

__"You didn't forget to give him the shopping list, right?" Laura asked._ _

__"Nah, I gave it to him. I don't think it helped his mood though. Are you sure--"_ _

__"Steve, this is your house, if you want your sister here for Christmas, you can't change that just because we're here."_ _

__"Derek's not going to--"_ _

__"Derek will be fine. Besides, it'll do Stiles good to spend some time with kids his own age. He doesn't get enough chances."_ _

__Laura worried about Stiles sometimes. He spent all his time between the house, the library, and the garage. That was pretty much it._ _

__He was still doing all of his classes online and Laura hadn't quite wanted to make the decision to enroll Stiles at the school. All of his online credits were still under the name Sam Stevens and... that was a problem she hadn't quite figured out how to sort yet._ _

__Laura smiled reassuringly at Steve. "Now, c'mon, I need hints for what to get your nieces for Christmas, and are you sure you don't need any help with the cooking?"_ _

__She nearly laughed at how quickly and vehemently he responded. "No! No! It's fine!" He stopped, realizing what he'd said and the hints of a blush appeared under the three-day old beard on his face. "I mean, it's not that your cooking isn't _lovely_ , just, uh..."_ _

__Laura did laugh this time. "It's okay. Derek and Stiles never hesitate to let me know how bad my cooking is. And... unless you're a better present-wrapper than me we might need to get Stiles to wrap the presents. Or Derek. They're both pretty good at it."_ _

__"That's fine, and you're sure you don't mind giving up your room for her? I mean, I know it's not ideal but--"_ _

__Laura quieted him with a kiss; Steve was getting himself all worried over nothing. "It's fine, I spend most nights in your room anyway, and if you don't mind your sister knowing we're--" Steve was _definitely_ blushing this time. "Are you sure?"_ _

__"Yeah, I'm sure."_ _

__*_ _

__Derek woke up the Monday before Christmas with an odd smell in his nose and a bed suspiciously absent of Stiles. It smelled like... come? Derek checked himself-- no, it didn't smell like _his_ come; it smelled like the odor that had been hanging around Stiles recently._ _

__He kicked back the sheets and... yeah: wet spot on the bed. Now the missing Stiles made sense. Derek got out of bed and looked about for some pants to pull on, this conversation would probably go better with underwear on._ _

__He found Stiles doing push-ups in the living room. He was washed, dressed, and had been going long enough for the back of his shirt to have started to soak through with sweat._ _

__Derek stood at the door watching him for a few moments. He'd not really noticed it before but Stiles was actually growing up. He was less than a foot shorter than him now, and if Derek hadn't been a werewolf he wouldn't have been able to carry him anymore. Stiles was a world away from the scrawny, soaking-wet scared kid he'd found in the back of their car over two years ago. He was going to be a teenager soon. A _teenager_. When the hell had that happened?_ _

__Stiles stood up, but flailed and fell over the second he noticed Derek standing there. Derek shook his head in amazement; he still didn't get how Stiles did shit like that._ _

__Derek offered a hand to Stiles and pulled him up. At least Stiles couldn't look him eye to eye yet. (And wasn't it a scary thought that that day would probably come?)_ _

__"You're up early," Derek commented because how the hell was he supposed to bring this up with Stiles?_ _

__Stiles went bright red. "This is about the thing, isn't it?" He was looking anywhere but in Derek's eyes._ _

__"Yeah, it's about the 'thing'." Derek stalled. How was he supposed to... This was horrible. He didn't want to have sex ever again, let alone talk about it with _Stiles_ of all people. Okay, deep breaths like pulling off a Band-Aid. "You might have noticed some changes--"_ _

__"Oh my God, _no_. Derek. Don't do it. Derek, this is what the internet's for." Stiles was bright red and waving his hands uselessly in Derek's direction._ _

__"Stiles, you can't learn everything from the internet. I mean--" Derek could still remember the _horrific_ chat with his dad, and there was no way Stiles was getting out of one. He needed to know how to be safe if he ever did do anything with someone. _Like Derek had been.__ _

__"No, please, just. Not now? I have no intentions of ever--" Stiles made a flapping gesture Derek thought was supposed to represent 'sex'. "If I do, I will come and ask you all the questions. Or Google it-- No, don't look like that. I won't Google it. I will _ask_ , I promise, if I even so much as find someone attractive I'll ask. This was just--" Stiles made another gesture at his crotch and a slightly pained noise. "...please make this conversation end."_ _

__Derek sighed; this was Stiles letting him get out of it. It was only a wet dream, it wasn't... "If you even find someone attractive?" Derek confirmed._ _

__Stiles nodded. "Even if they're a fictional person, I will come and see you."_ _

__Derek wet his lips; this was the bit he really didn't want to ask. But he'd promised. "I don't mind if you want to... that is, we can keep them together, but... Do you want to separate the beds out again?"_ _

__Stiles gnawed at his lip nervously. "I-- yeah, that'd be, I mean I don't want to--" Stiles took a deep breath. "Yes, please."_ _

__That was the answer Derek had been expecting, even if he didn't really like it. "That's fine, Stiles."_ _

__"Is that... is this horrible conversation over?" Stiles asked, optimistically._ _

__"Yeah, that's it. But you're washing the sheets."_ _

__"Hey! It's your turn to do the laundry!"_ _

__"You made the mess, you clean it up."_ _

__Stiles huffed in annoyance. "Fine."_ _

__Derek smiled at Stiles's put-out face._ _

__"You're so mean."_ _

__"You're becoming a _man_ ," Derek taunted._ _

__Stiles blushed bright red. "Shut up, stupid-face."_ _

__Derek laughed._ _

__*_ _

__Steve's sister and his nieces showed up the day before Christmas Eve. Maggie was a couple of years older than Steve, almost forty, and her two daughters, Katie and Marie, were twelve and fourteen respectively. All of the family had the same blonde-red-colored hair as Steve, and were just as friendly._ _

__Maggie was separated from the girl's dad who was working across the country for Christmas. Neither of the girls had been happy to discover Derek and Stiles had _their_ room._ _

__"Uncle Steve! You gave our room away!" Marie complained as she went to drop her things into the room._ _

__"Marie! Don't be rude," her mother chided. "You use it once every odd year for Christmas, that's it. Derek and... Stiles, was it?" She looked to Steve for confirmation, he nodded. "Derek and Stiles live here now. It's their room."_ _

__"But... that means we've got to sleep with _you_ for all of Christmas." Marie whined._ _

__"It's only a few days, and the bed's big enough for all of us," Maggie told her._ _

__Stiles was only half-paying attention to what was being said because Marie had really pretty hair. It was redder than her sister and mom's. It was... really pretty. She was really pretty._ _

__"Mom!" Katie called from the living room. "Can I plug the Xbox in yet?"_ _

__Xbox? There was an Xbox in the house?! Stiles turned away from watching Marie and her mother bicker to where her younger sister was waving a game controller about._ _

__"You've got an Xbox?!" Stiles asked, skidding to a halt in front of her._ _

__"Uh, duh. You don't?"_ _

__Stiles wanted to say _yes_ because he _did_ have one. Just. He didn't. Not anymore. His Xbox was in Beacon Hills... somewhere. Probably still sitting in the house where he'd left it. "N-not anymore."_ _

__"Oh. Well. I guess you can play on mine. Marie doesn't like playing anymore; she says it's _boring_ ," Katie said, like it was the stupidest thing in the world._ _

__"Who'd think an Xbox was _boring_?! Unless... what games do you have?"_ _

__Katie did, in fact, have excellent games. Her collection wasn't far from Stiles's except she had _new_ games, ones that hadn't been out when he'd had a console._ _

__"Oh my god you've got Gears of War 2! I couldn't wait to play this!"_ _

__"Meh, it's okay; Call of Duty is better though," Katie said, plugging the cables into the TV._ _

__"No way, I don't believe you."_ _

__Katie rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll play Gears of War first, then Call of Duty. You'll totally see I'm right."_ _

__*_ _

__Stiles was still way into Gears of War when Derek got home from work and Stiles didn't notice him. Marie was sitting on the sofa, texting on her phone, while the 'adults' were chatting away. Stiles and Katie were on the floor bouncing around as they tried to take out their Locust hordes._ _

__Stiles only noticed Derek was home because of the silence that fell when he walked through the door. He didn't look away from the screen but he could hear Laura introducing people, and Derek's brusque greetings._ _

__"I'll be in my room," Derek said._ _

__"There's space for you out here, Derek." Laura was trying to get him to stay, Stiles could tell._ _

__"I'll be in my room," Derek repeated, and Stiles heard him leave the living room._ _

__Not long after that the adults made them turn off the Xbox so they could watch TV. Stiles and Katie both complained but lost out. Maggie invited Laura in to help her with dinner, even though Steve objected. Laura went with a shrug and a smile. Stiles didn't know why anyone would ask Laura to help them in the kitchen; he was a better cook than she was._ _

__"Who was that?" Katie whispered, in the middle of an episode of Friday Night Lights._ _

__Stiles frowned and looked about, but he didn't see anyone._ _

__"No, earlier, the guy who came in and went to his room."_ _

__"Oh, that's my brother, Derek," Stiles whispered back._ _

__"He's like, _really old_."_ _

__Stiles wrinkled his nose. "No, he's only--" Crap, how old was Derek supposed to be again? "He's twenty." Stiles thought that was right, Derek was only eighteen, but Laura had added two years onto Derek's age, one to Stiles's and one to her own. He thought. He was pretty sure?_ _

__"That's kind of old."_ _

__"Well, how old are you?"_ _

__"I'm twelve!" she said proudly, and unfortunately loudly enough to earn her a glare from her sister._ _

__"That's the same--" No, no it wasn't. "That's almost the same age as me. That's cool."_ _

__"Stiles!" Laura called from the kitchen (that smelled suspiciously like burning). "Go grab Derek, dinner's almost ready."_ _

__Derek had probably heard everything, even down to Stiles's conversation with Katie, but he went to get him anyway._ _

__He found Derek in their room, lying on Stiles's bed and sketching. As Stiles walked in Derek didn't stop drawing but did angle the book away so Stiles couldn't see._ _

__"I heard," Derek said, distractedly._ _

__Stiles shrugged. "I guessed, but I think we're supposed to pretend we're normal or something for Steve's family."_ _

__"You are normal," Derek replied, looking up at Stiles, his eyes scanning over Stiles's face, kinda like he was..._ _

__"Hey, are you drawing me?" Stiles asked, leaning over to try and get a look at the book._ _

__Derek tilted it up further. "No."_ _

__Stiles attempted to dart around the back of Derek to see what he was drawing, but it was no use trying to be quicker than a werewolf. Derek had the book closed before Stiles even got close._ _

__"You're such a grouch. I bet it was a picture of me."_ _

__It was Derek's turn to shrug. "Maybe." Derek got up off the bed. "Come on, I can hear them setting the table."_ _

__"What's for dinner?" Stiles asked, knowing Derek would have smelled it better than his human nose could. All Stiles could still smell was... burning._ _

__Derek wrinkled his nose. "Burned... something."_ _

__"Oh, that's all you smell, too?"_ _

__Derek nodded._ _

__"Don't suppose you brought anything edible home from work with you?"_ _

__Derek sadly shook his head. "No, I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to let Laura cook."_ _

__Stiles sighed. "Yeah, me neither. Oh well." He turned to leave the room but felt Derek grab hold of his arm. Stiles quirked an eyebrow at him._ _

__Derek looked uncomfortable._ _

__Stiles knew that meant it was probably... "Is this going to be a wolfy thing?"_ _

__"Can I do something and you just not question why for once?" Derek asked, like he knew the answer was going to be no._ _

__"I can delay the asking for a bit if you want. But we both know curiosity will get the better of me." He shrugged helplessly. "Nothing I can do about it. I could always ask Laur--"_ _

__"Don't ask Laura. I'll tell you later, just, don't ask Laura?" Derek was shifting restlessly. This must be something really wolf-embarrassing. Now he couldn't say no, because that meant he wouldn't find out what it was._ _

__"Fine, I won't ask Laura, and yes, you can do whatever it is."_ _

__Whatever Stiles was expecting, it wasn't Derek's hands in his face, wiping all over his cheeks._ _

__" _Dude_ , what the hell?" Stiles complained, trying to duck away from Derek._ _

__Derek voice sounded pained when he replied, "You said you weren't going to ask about it now--" Derek was running his hands down Stiles's neck now._ _

__"I said I wouldn't ask! Not that I wouldn't complain!" This was strange. Derek hadn't done anything like this before._ _

__Derek huffed. "Fine, how about this instead." He pulled away from Stiles and started pulling the black t-shirt he was wearing off._ _

__"Derek, you're being really weird. I want my explanation now."_ _

__Derek held out the t-shirt to Stiles. "Put this on instead of yours and I'll tell you."_ _

__He took the t-shirt and sniffed at it. "Dude, this smells like you've been wearing it all day. Why do I have to--"_ _

__"You smell like Steve's niece," Derek said, like the words cost him something to say._ _

__"What?"_ _

__"You've been playing video games with her all afternoon, yeah? Sitting side-by-side?" Derek fished a clean shirt out of his drawers and pulled it on._ _

__Stiles nodded. "Yeah, since she got here. So what, that made me smell like her?"_ _

__"My wolf doesn't like it. Since we stopped sharing a bed you smell like me less anyway. And now with this it feels like a threat, like someone's in my den and they're trying to--"_ _

__The penny dropped. "Oh my _God_ you're scent-marking me. Derek, this is like the most wolf-y thing I've seen you do," Stiles said gleefully._ _

__Derek's cheeks took on a hint of red like he was..._ _

__"You're blushing!" Stiles couldn't contain his delight. Derek cared enough that he wanted to mark Stiles as his. This was like, the most adorable thing ever._ _

__"I'm _sorry_ ," Derek bit out. "I know it's weird and--"_ _

__"Dude, this is awesome! You like, really care about me."_ _

__Derek looked up at him with a 'well duh' expression on his face. It settled into hesitant belief. "Are you sure you don't mind?"_ _

__"I don't mind, but if you're going to do this all the time while they're here then I'm totally going to make you do all the laundry. Because you're making extra and there's no way I'm doing all of that."_ _

__Derek sounded relieved that was the only issue Stiles had. "Fine, whatever. Just put the t-shirt on."_ _

__Stiles grinned and swapped his tee for Derek's. "Better?"_ _

__Derek nodded and ran his hands over Stiles's face one more time._ _

__"Derek, you're weird."_ _

__Derek shrugged in the 'yeah, nothing I can do about it' way. "Come on, dinner's on the table."_ _

__*_ _

__Christmas went... okay, 'well' probably wasn't the best way to describe it, but 'not too bad' could maybe do. Maggie didn't hate her, which took a massive load off Laura's mind. Derek didn't wolf out or intimidate any of Steve's family; the worst he did was almost-growl at Marie when she kept walking in on him in the bathroom._ _

__It was really nice seeing Stiles play with a kid near his own age and it made Laura a bit sad that all Stiles ever got was her and Derek. Maybe she should see about settling him into school locally. Even if it wasn't permanent, it might be worth it._ _

__Laura had caught Derek trying to scent-mark her by trying to switch out his towel for hers every time she showered. It was... cute, really, especially with how put out he looked when she handed him back his towel. How he'd thought she wouldn't notice, she didn't know. With Stiles, he was less subtle; the poor kid didn't get to wear any clean clothes for the entirety of the visit._ _

__Derek was still his normal self around Steve. He still gave Laura disapproving glances when she was in any way affectionate with Steve. It drove Laura mad but she had no idea what to do about him. He'd been fine with Amy, just, apparently not Steve, just because he was _human_._ _

__She was back at work, though, and it was a really slow day in the office until Jane, the receptionist Laura had been covering for, came in._ _

__She was in the garage showing the baby off and talking about when she was going to return to work. The baby was pretty fucking cute. The mechanics had all come to coo over him, but they had all gone back to the garage floor, apart from Steve, who was hovering with Laura, Jane, and the baby. It turned out Steve really liked babies. He was cooing all over him and pulling funny faces._ _

__Jane was leaning against the desk, watching the baby and Steve with Laura._ _

__"He looks pretty good with a baby," she commented slyly._ _

__Laura watched the baby gurgle up at Steve as he pulled at his cheeks._ _

__She nodded. "Yeah, he does."_ _

__Laura knew exactly where this was going before Jane uttered the words. "So, have you two thought about having one?"_ _

__Laura had to shut her eyes to keep Jane from seeing her eyes flash red. Home. Pack. More. She could almost hear her wolf circling, prowling. You've got territory. You've got a mate. You're protected enough. Turn the boy. Have a cub. Laura pushed the feelings down. "No, we've not really discussed it."_ _

__"It's perfect timing," Jane said. "What with me coming back, and you so soon out of a job."_ _

__Laura officially didn't like this woman, no matter how cute her baby was. "Yeah, I guess it is."_ _

__"Well, I should be off. It was nice meeting you, Laura. See you around."_ _

__Yeah, not if Laura could avoid it._ _

__*_ _

__Derek had had enough. He hated working on the day of the full moon but today was way worse than any he'd had in a while. The January moon had been tense enough, falling just after Christmas, but it felt like everything since then was just turning to shit. Now it was the day of the February full moon and everything that could go wrong seemed to._ _

__He'd been sleeping badly since they'd separated the beds in December; even worse was the fact that Stiles was too. Derek figured he should probably just push the beds back together, tell Stiles that it didn't _matter_ , that Derek had been a teenage boy once too. But Stiles was awkward and human and things were changing for him, so he wanted the space to deal with them by himself._ _

__To make it worse, ever since Christmas every time a baby came on TV Laura got this... smell on her. She smelled like _want_. It took him a month to figure out the new smell and trace its cause back to babies. _Babies_. Babies meant this was it. Babies meant they were staying here. Never mind that his sister was too young, that Steve wasn't good enough, that Steve wasn't _wolf_ enough. Derek wasn't even entirely convinced he wasn't a hunter just waiting for Derek and Laura to lead him to more wolves to kill. Hunters played games. Hunters were cruel. _ _

__They'd just been in Franklin for a year now and what type of place was this? What type of life would that be for any of them? Babies meant Laura was making her _own_ family, obviously he wasn't--_ _

__Derek slammed the door open as he entered the house. He'd had to leave the shop early because he'd freaked out over a customer. He'd been on edge all day and then some stupid woman tapped him on the shoulder and said, _Excuse me sweetie_._ _

__All he'd heard in his head was Kate. He'd let his eyes flash blue and _fuck_. He always messed things up. He didn't think she'd notice, and it wasn't enough to panic anyone, but _fuck_ how was he always the weak link? Always bringing trouble to their pack?_ _

__Right now all Derek wanted to do was get out there and _run_. He'd always been the one staying home with Stiles, but tonight, he just... he really needed this._ _

__"Laura!" he called as he came in. The garage closed at six so she should be home already. His shift hadn't been scheduled to end until ten and moonrise wasn't until eleven._ _

__He found Laura lounging on her bed, reading a book. She looked up as he came in._ _

__"I want to go for a run. _Tonight_ ," he said, knowing Steve was home as well._ _

__Laura fixed him with a concerned gaze. "What's wrong, Derek? You're agitated."_ _

__"It doesn't matter, just, _can I_?" he asked, releasing the wolf and letting the blue rise up to his eyes._ _

__"Not until you _tell me what's wrong_ ," Laura said, letting her own eyes flash red._ _

__Derek let out a sub-vocal whine. "It's personal."_ _

__"There isn't anything personal from your... _sister_ ," she said sister, but Derek heard alpha._ _

__"I just-- it was a bad day at work," he said, deflating under Laura's stare._ _

__"And?" she prompted._ _

__"Nothing," he said sullenly, trying not to let her get any more._ _

__" _Derek_."_ _

__Fucking alphas. "Christmas. The beds. _Steve_." He said the man's name as if it tasted bad._ _

__Laura's eyes softened. "Derek, you go for a run like this and there'll be trouble."_ _

__"There won't, Laura. I'll go way out, so far no one will see me," Derek pleaded. "I _need_ this."_ _

__"How about if I come with you?" she offered._ _

__"I... Laura, _please_." Derek just wanted time alone, time to think, time to run, time to let his wolf's instincts play so he didn't have to worry about hunters and _Kate_ and..._ _

__"That's the offer. I'll stay back but that's it."_ _

__Derek let out a long sigh. "Fine. Can we go _now_ though?"_ _

__Laura nodded. "Go tell Stiles and we'll go."_ _

__*_ _

__Stiles woke up to an empty house. No Laura, no Steve, no Derek. He didn't panic. He didn't. (He did.)_ _

__There was no note on the counter. There weren't any messages on his phone. The Camaro wasn't parked outside. Everything felt... surreal. It was so quiet that Stiles felt like he might have slept through the apocalypse. Before he even thought about it, he pulled out his phone and hit 'call' on Derek's cell. It rang , but Derek didn’t pick up. Stiles didn't panic. He _didn't_. He called Laura._ _

__She answered at the first ring._ _

__" _Where's Derek_?" he asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "He said he'd be back by the time I woke up and he's not. He's not answering his cell, and he's not been back, and you're not back, and the Camaro's gone, and--" Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ , he was panicking. He'd been so long without a panic attack._ _

__"Stiles, breathe. Come on. In. And out."_ _

__He held the phone up to his ear and let Laura's voice wash over him. He could still feel his heart hammering in his chest and Derek-- _where was Derek_?!_ _

__He must have muttered something because Laura was talking about Derek now. "He's alive. He's not in danger. Breathe. In... he's just in the woods... out... sulking, I think… and in..."_ _

__It took a long while but Stiles felt the attack pass. He was sitting on the sofa and he just felt so tired. He scrubbed at the drying tears on his face._ _

__"Okay, kiddo?" Laura asked._ _

__Stiles sniffed. "Yeah, I think so. What happened?"_ _

__Laura let out a heavy sigh. "I told Derek not to do something, but he didn't listen. His wolf got the better of him and he killed a deer. He also, like a complete idiot, broke his phone."_ _

__Stiles inhaled sharply. That... that used to mean they had to leave. Stiles liked Franklin, though. He also liked Steve, and he didn't want to... "Are we going?"_ _

__The line was so quiet that Stiles had to check they hadn't been disconnected. "No. I hid the body. They... they shouldn't find it. I think we're okay. We _will_ be okay."_ _

__Stiles let out the breath he'd been holding. "Then why's Derek sulking?" Why hadn't Derek come back to him?_ _

__Laura snorted. "Derek knows he did wrong, so he's ashamed and feels guilty. He'll be home soon. I think he just needed some time alone."_ _

__"Okay." Of course Derek would be home. He'd always come back to them, as long as he was physically able to. Stiles knew that._ _

__*_ _

__Derek fucked up. Again. He knew he'd fucked up, but Laura had forgiven him, for whatever reason. (He hadn't forgiven himself.) It was such a stupid thing. Laura had said they should leave the area because there were deer nearby, but Derek wanted to continue running. She'd used her alpha voice and his wolf had risen up and challenged her, then a deer had gotten too close and Laura had tried to pull him off but... Mauled deer. With wolf claws and hairs all over it._ _

__All the frustration he'd been feeling, all the fear and worry, had just come to the surface and he'd fucked up. He understood that Laura wasn't punishing him because she thought he was doing enough to himself. Then he'd come home to the bitter stench of panic from Stiles and absolutely hated himself._ _

__There hadn't been any news reports about finding a mutilated animal in the woods. They'd hidden it and it was only one deer. Derek apologized to his manager for running out the day before, telling her it was a family emergency, and that was that. Derek went back to work and it was mostly like nothing had happened. Derek had gotten lucky, really lucky._ _

__Derek glanced at his watch-- only forty-five minutes left on this shift. He couldn't wait for it to be over. He picked up the last twenty-pound bag of dog food off of the pallet and onto the shelf. Making it look like hard work was half the effort._ _

__He heard the footsteps of a customer approaching, no doubt about to ask him something, and sure enough a second later he heard someone stop just behind him._ _

__"Excuse me, son," a voice said loud and clear._ _

__Derek turned around to see a man in his early thirties standing in front of him. Derek didn't know what it was but something about him immediately put him on edge. "What?" he grunted._ _

__"I don't suppose you know anywhere around here that stocks deer venison, do you?"_ _

__Derek froze. Why the hell was someone asking for _deer_ venison. Of course they didn't do venison, who the hell would-- shit._ _

__"No, sorry, I'm afraid I don't. You'd probably have to go hunting for your own," Derek answered. It was a risk, but..._ _

__"Oh, no worries, son. I'm always up for a bit of hunting. Thanks for your help." The man turned and walked away._ _

__Derek carefully sniffed as soon as his back was turned and fuck, but yeah, the smell of wolfsbane clung to the man. It was ingrained into his scent. A hunter. There was a hunter. Talking to him about deer. At his place of work._ _

__Fuck._ _

__*_ _

__The first time Stiles heard they were leaving, Derek was throwing his duffel bag at him and telling him to pack all his stuff and Laura's._ _

__"Derek? What's going on?" Stiles asked, confused as hell because... what?_ _

__This was the closest Stiles had ever seen to Derek panicking. He was pulling their clothes out of the drawers and throwing them into his bag._ _

__"Derek! I'm not packing until you tell me what the hell is going on!" Stiles demanded._ _

__Derek growled slightly. "A hunter came into the store and threatened me."_ _

__Stiles stopped. He hadn't... he knew that hunters had burned the Hale house, and he knew they were the reason they kept moving, but knowing that information and seeing the effect a hunter had on Derek-- knowing there was a hunter near them, _hunting_ them, was a totally different thing. Stiles almost couldn't believe it. They hadn't had any trouble for two years; it just seemed so... "Are you sure it was a hunter? That he was threatening you?"_ _

__Derek slammed the now-empty drawer shut. " _Yes_ , Stiles. I'm sure."_ _

__Fuck. "What... what about Steve?"_ _

__Derek growled again. "Laura's dealing with him. Just pack your stuff, Stiles. Anything that doesn't fit in the Camaro, we're leaving. Laura wants us on the road before the garage closes for the day."_ _

__Stiles liked Franklin. He liked Steve. Stiles-- this was home. It felt like home. He was so sure they were going to be staying here and now-- Derek snatched the bag out of Stiles's hand. Was he in shock? Was that what this was?_ _

__Derek stopped packing. "Stiles, I'm sorry, I'm _so sorry_. I didn't-- " Derek sounded so pained, so guilty._ _

__It snapped Stiles out of it. "Hey, it's okay. Do we... has Laura decided where we're heading next?"_ _

__Derek shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think she does either."_ _

__That was something Stiles hadn't thought he'd hear again._ _

__*_ _

__Derek had called Laura outside the garage to tell her about the hunter in Wal-Mart. Laura didn't feel angry and Laura didn't blame Derek. A part of her knew this was coming. She should have done a better job of keeping their shit together. She should have managed Derek better. She should have stopped the attack on the deer. Hunters on the lookout for animal attacks on the full moon always managed to find them. Resourceful bastards._ _

__It took Laura an hour to decide to tell Steve the closest thing to the truth she could. She was going to go with the “on the run from some criminals because one of their family members had turned someone important in and they didn't trust witness protection” story. It sounded like something from a TV show, but it was better than the truth, which would probably sound crazier. Either way, he couldn't have the whole truth._ _

__It wasn't fair to bring all their shit into his life as well. Steve still had a chance to be normal, to find someone nice, to get married, to have kids. Steve did not need to be hunted because of what he was, or of who he loved._ _

__Laura walked onto the shop floor peering around cars until she found him. He was elbows-deep in a Chevy, joking with one of the other mechanics. She let herself watch for a moment; he was a long way from the quiet but friendly mechanic that showed up to tow their car. Laura felt a pang of regret. She was going to miss him; she might not have been in love with him, but she was well on her way there and she most definitely _loved_ him. He would have made a good wolf._ _

__She went over to his car and called out his name. He smiled up at her and she felt her heart clench painfully._ _

__*_ _

__Derek drove the Camaro over to the garage to pick Laura up. She was waiting out front with Steve next to her. Without asking if he could, Stiles climbed out of the car and threw his arms around Steve in a hug. Derek didn't listen to what they had to say, but Stiles had tears running down his cheeks when he got back into the car._ _

__Derek didn't watch Laura say goodbye to Steve._ _

__They drove in silence, clear through the evening and late into the night, heading north into New York. Eventually they decided to pull up at a motel when Stiles kept accidentally kicking the doors of the car as he tried to sleep on the back seat. He was getting far too big for it now._ _

__He waited in the car while Laura grabbed a room, then tried to wake Stiles up. Derek wasn't surprised when he walked into the room to find Laura had gotten one with a double and a single bunk above it. He hated rooms like these. Right now all he wanted to do was lie in bed with his pack and metaphorically lick their wounds._ _

__He got that he didn't get the privilege of that, though, even if it meant Laura was denying it for herself as well._ _

__Laura must have seen the look on his face as he walked into their motel room because she quietly said, "It's not like that. I thought we could take the bed and Stiles would like the bunk for privacy."_ _

__Oh. That was... really thoughtful actually. They all went about their nightly routine in heavy silence. Stiles was the first into his bed, and Laura the last._ _

__Derek lay there in the dark, unable to sleep. The room smelled of other people. His sister and Stiles smelled of grief and loss all over again. He'd caused it all. He was so bad for the people he loved. He almost thought they'd be better off without him. He could hear Stiles's heartbeat, hear him fidgeting; he was still wide awake. Laura was too; he could hear her trying to steady her breaths, trying to lure herself into sleep but... nothing._ _

__Stiles tossed and turned above them again and finally heaved a large sigh. "I give up," he whispered to the darkness. "Derek, are you still awake?"_ _

__Derek didn't whisper when he answered. His voice sounded so loud in the quiet they'd built. "Yeah."_ _

__There was a pause, like Stiles hadn't expected him to answer. "Are you sure you don't mind about--" Another awkward pause. "--the thing?"_ _

__Derek snorted. 'The thing'. Stiles was calling puberty 'the thing'. "I told you I don't mind, Stiles. I meant it."_ _

__He was quiet for another moment. "Do you think Laura would mind?"_ _

__Derek didn't know if he should answer for Laura, or if she would. He didn't have to though, because she answered for herself._ _

__"Whatever it is, Stiles, I don't care. Get down here."_ _

__"You're sure?" he asked, sounding doubtful. "Derek, what if she does--"_ _

__"Stiles, if it's what I think it is, _I don't care_. Do you need the lights on to climb down the ladder?" Laura sounded so tired, so worn out._ _

__There was the unmistakable sound of Stiles climbing down the ladder and a second later, Derek felt Stiles tread on his foot. He grunted._ _

__"Oops, sorry!" Stiles said, treading on him at least once more before he made it into the space between Derek and Laura._ _

__Stiles fidgeted about for a few moments before he settled with his head on Derek's pillow. Laura rolled over and wrapped her arms around Stiles's back and Derek shifted until he was pressed against Stiles's front._ _

__It felt like that first night out of Beacon Hills, the three of them tired and sad, curled in a motel bed that smelled like other people. They had no idea where they were going, and they were missing the places they'd been. It was almost like they'd never stopped running in the first place, and Derek guessed they never really had._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [my tumblr](http://saspiesas.tumblr.com), come see me post pretty pictures and wonder about things...


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, sorry, I am sorry. I didn't realise the next chapter would take me six months. Thanks for everyone who's stuck with me to this point, and for the incredibly polite prompts and reminders people have given me through the break. 
> 
> I realised a massive plot hole with the last part, and instead let myself be dragged into writing for a million other fests instead of trying to fix it. So, apologies again. 
> 
> Massive thanks for [slumber](http://archiveofourown.org/users/slumber/pseuds/slumber), who once again beta'd this and hand held, and to all my other friends who let me rant and try to figure out how to fix this plot hole. <3

Laura wrapped her arms around the girl and nuzzled into her neck as she fumbled with the keys to the front door.

The girl giggled. "Stop it or I'll never get this door open."

Grinning into her neck she started to press a trail of kisses down toward the girl's shoulder.

She'd met Mary Jane ( _Seriously, please call me MJ_ ) at the library while waiting for Stiles. He loved the library here, something about having an awesome selection of graphic novels that he wanted to read while they were in town. As usual, the library wouldn't give him a card because he didn't have proof of address. They never stayed anywhere long enough to get it these days, so he was spending the hot days of mid-August in the stuffy library. There was nothing much she could do if Stiles wanted to waste his summer that way.

She met MJ waiting for him every day that week. She'd been standing there in the sunshine, all hipster sunglasses and floral baby-doll dress and yeah, Laura'd been a goner. She'd been waiting to walk her sister, one of the summer library assistants, home from work. She did it each day their parents were away so they didn't worry about her.

The first day, Laura just grinned at her across the parking lot. The second, she struck up conversation. A few more days later led to a couple of almost-dates at the diner. Which lead to this, out to a movie neither of them cared about and then back to MJ’s house.

Living with Stiles and Derek was great and all, but it didn't leave her much chance to bring people back. In fact, between Derek, who would smell if anyone non-pack had been in their room, and Stiles, who had a habit of popping up at the most unexpected time, there was zero chance of having anyone back at theirs without turning it into a Thing That Would Have To Be Talked About. Sometimes, Laura just wanted a pretty girl and a bit of fun.

MJ was back from college for the summer, and normally she shared the room with her younger sister, the one who was working at the library. Except tonight their parents were out of town and her sister was staying at a friend's house. Which left a big empty house just for the two of them. Bingo. She hadn't had sex in years, not since Steve. She still felt a slight pang of sadness when she thought about him, but tried to push it out of her mind. 

"Aha!" MJ said as the door to the house finally unlocked, pushing it open and walking into the house, doing a little victory twirl as she went. Laura let out a quiet laugh and followed her in.

Laura had spent a rather distracting two hours sitting in the cinema. As soon as they'd sat down, towards the side, near the back, away from all the emergency exit lights and the projector lights, she'd smelled the arousal coming off of MJ.

Before MJ had even made a dent in her popcorn Laura was already sliding her hand across the seat and onto MJ's bare thigh. Laura thought she'd appreciate the move; if Laura got anything from MJ it was that she was into nostalgia. She'd shown up for their movie wearing one of her mom's sundresses and some battered converse, and the movie she'd picked? Gone With the Wind. Seriously, how was the cinema even showing this?

Laura had spent the movie slowly sliding her hand up her thigh, developing a fondness for the short dress she was wearing and the absolute ease of access it provided. When Laura had slid up enough to have reached the edge of her underwear, all MJ did was spread her legs to give Laura better access. Laura had to stop herself before she just dropped to her knees in a small town cinema. That... wouldn't end well, definitely not with the group of teens down in the front row within viewing distance.

Laura had pulled back her hand and settled for keeping things above the waist, and if when they left the cinema MJ had some lovely hickeys on her neck, well, sometimes Laura had to let her wolf come out and play.

The drive back to MJ’s house had been maddening with the thick scent of arousal filling the Camaro and MJ reaching over to thumb Laura's nipples through the thin fabric of her tank top. Derek would bitch about the smell in the car tomorrow, but at least it wasn't their bed; she'd have to remind him of that.

All of the night until now left Laura ridiculously eager to have the girl and now she had her alone, in private. Laura's wolf was positively delighted at that, pressing under the surface with a steady chant of _taketaketake_.

Laura shut the door and pushed MJ up against the back of it, heard a gasp as MJ's back made contact with the solid wood. She would feel remorse except she'd been so _patient_ and oh, wasn't that interesting, the heavy scent of arousal coming off MJ had increased as she'd been pushed into the door.

She liked it _rough_ , did she? Laura's wolf liked that. Laura's wolf _loved_ that, but she had to push it down, remind herself MJ was human and there was a level of control she'd always have to keep.

Laura moved back to MJ's neck and started at the largest mark she'd made in the cinema. It sat pretty just below her collarbone, with the current hot weather and the low-necked dresses she wore, it'd be visible for everyone to see and that, oh, that felt good. She liked knowing everyone would be able to see what was hers.

She licked and bit at it, lathering it with attention before moving lower. MJ didn't have much in the way of breasts; she was young and firm and totally bra-less. Laura loved it. She moved down to MJ's nipples, feeling them harden through the fabric, nipping and pulling and mouthing at a nipple until the material of her dress was sodden and MJ's breaths were coming in ragged gasps.

Laura felt hands in her hair, slipping around the back of her head and cradling her skull. The hands tried to pull her upwards, but she resisted. MJ couldn't move her even if she tried with all her strength unless Laura let her.

MJ made a displeased noise and tugged again at Laura's hair. Laura let out a low growl and switched to the other nipple, taking it between her teeth and nipping roughly.

MJ's breath stuttered, her heartbeat picking up and Laura's nose could smell her getting wetter. She looked up to see MJ staring down at her.

"Did you just growl at me?"

Laura grinned up at her and MJ tried again to pull Laura up towards her face. 

"Come up here, I want to kiss you."

Laura let out another quiet growl at the hair pulling and watched as MJ's nipples hardened further and a blush crept up her neck. Laura loved that with someone whose skin was as fair as MJ's, the blush showed up so perfectly prettily.

"No... I think I've... do you want to play a little game?"

MJ quirked an eyebrow and asked a little hesitantly, "What... kind of game?"

Laura's face broke out into a wolfish grin. "The kind where I'm the big bad wolf... you're little red riding hood... and you're about to get eaten."

Laura kept smiling as she dropped to her knees in front of MJ. She hadn't said anything quite so corny in forever and it felt good. It had been so long; she missed the easy fun of it and her wolf missed the playfulness, the chance to dominate and mark and revel in the scent of her partner.

"I've got a bedroom, you know," MJ muttered between rough biting kisses. "With a bed and pillows and everything."

Laura rolled her eyes. She liked it here well enough, but fine, bedrooms, she could do bedrooms. Laura gracefully rolled onto her feet and reached down to help MJ to hers. Before MJ could start leading her up the stairs, Laura stopped and gripped her by the hips. She slid her arms down and then rucked the skirt of her dress up and started to pull down her underwear.

She gave her a wicked grin. "They were really starting to bug me."

Laura let herself be led up stairs to MJ’s bedroom. The door opened to a room which contained one messy bed and one exceptionally well-made bed.

MJ made a disgusted snort. "See, this is what sharing your room with a teenage girl is like! She leaves the place in such a mess. She's seventeen, she should know better."

Laura nodded, only barely listening, more interested in throwing MJ down on her own bed and resuming where they'd left off.

The room absolutely stank of sex and Laura couldn't help feeling a little pleased until she realized that the smell wasn't them, that it was the second bed that smelled like sex and girl and come and...

Laura wrinkled her nose. "Hey, does your sister have a boyfriend?"

MJ looked at Laura with a confused expression. "What? I don't think so, why?" She noticed Laura staring at the other bed. "Oh god, please say she hasn't left her bed sheets covered in come. Seriously, she wouldn't pull this kind of shit if mom and dad weren't out of town. Ew."

The thing was, there was something-- she _knew_ that smell. It'd been permeating so much of their lives, the scent of all of them recently, because-- " _Stiles..._."

"What?" The girl was busy undoing the straps of her summer dress and slipping it off.

Laura couldn't focus on the beautiful girl in front of her because what the hell was Stiles's come and scent doing all over some strange girl's bed and shit, suddenly things made more sense. Stiles was odd but seriously, why the hell would he be spending every day of this beautiful summer sitting inside the library? Because he liked the library assistant. Fuck, how had she not seen this?

"Hey Laura? What's going on? I know it's pretty gross but just ignore it, my bed's lovely and clean..."

Laura's brain was jumping from one thing to another so quickly. "How old did you say your sister was?"

MJ's brow furrowed in confusion. "Seventeen-- seriously, what's going on, I thought we were having sex?"

MJ stopped undoing her dress and stood staring at Laura. There was a beautiful girl in front of her and all Laura could think about was Stiles. He was fifteen fucking years old, what was he doing with a seventeen-year-old? What was he doing having sex at all?

Shit, from the smell of things he hadn't been here more than a few hours ago-- is this what being a parent felt like? She wanted to check that he was okay, to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, how had he lied to her? A lie of omission was still a lie.

Laura was still wet but that was as far as it went. She was well and truly thrown from what she'd been doing; all she wanted to do right now was go and check on Stiles. She let out a growl of annoyance. First bit of sex in two years and this fucking happens.

She looked at the girl who was standing in front of her, smelling of annoyance and embarrassment. "MJ, I-- I'm sorry. I just realized that my kid brother... doesn't have keys to the house and he's going to be locked out..."

MJ's face got cold. "You mean the one who spends all the time at the library? Wouldn't he have phoned you?"

Shit she was right, Laura tried to think of something but she really couldn't. "Look, I'm sorry, I've got to go. I'll see you around, okay?"

MJ was hurt. Laura could see it on her face-- hurt and frustration written plain for anyone to see. She shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Do you need me to let you out."

Laura shook her head and started doing up her jeans. "Don't worry, I'll see myself out." And with one last look at the rumpled sheets, she left the room and made her way back to the Camaro that was parked outside.

*

Laura returned to the motel to find Stiles and Derek sitting on opposite sides of the room, a heavy silence sitting between them. Stiles was curled up on the bed and Derek was passive-aggressively browsing the web on their laptop. She could smell the musky scent of sex coming off Stiles tainted by the fear and worry coming from Derek. He'd been so quiet and sullen since Franklin. He knew he'd fucked up and she hadn't had to do anything; no one punished Derek quite like Derek himself. 

She'd been mad at him for months after they'd left but once she realized he was punishing himself worse than she ever could, she stopped being angry and tried to move past it. Except Derek wouldn't. He was quiet and withdrawn, and had been for the past, shit, almost two years as they slowly moved across the northeast. She didn't know what to do, Stiles didn't know what to do, and Derek did nothing but work and brood and draw. That was it. 

Stiles looked up at Laura when she entered the room. He was curled up on the bed and his eyes were red; he'd obviously been crying. Derek's nostrils flared and he let out a growl, eyes flashing blue.

"Why is everyone walking in here smelling of sex tonight? Is there something in the fucking water?" Derek slammed the lid of the laptop closed. It was almost refreshing to actually see Derek angry. Letting emotions out was good for him, better than him sitting on them all and letting them fester. 

Laura sat down on the edge of their bed, ignoring Derek and looking over at Stiles. Any anger she'd had at him for doing something that could have been so stupid was gone. He was Stiles and he was upset; all she wanted to do was comfort him, make sure he was alright.

"Hey kiddo, you okay over there? Anything we need to talk about?" she asked, moving further onto the bed. Stiles had been with them so long that he acted more like a 'wolf than a human when it came to times of emotional distress. Some days the pull to turn him was nearly overwhelming, but it wasn't time, not yet. He had to be old enough to make that decision himself. 

Stiles sniffled and moved over to Laura's side, burrowing himself against her. He was getting tall, but he was still so thin. Working out with Derek made sure that he was putting on muscle, but his frame was still that of a fifteen-year-old’s, all gangly limbs and paws he hadn't yet grown into.

Derek huffed from the other side of the room. "Of course there's something you need to talk about. He had sex with a seventeen-year-old! That's rape! She's seventeen, you're _fifteen_. You're not old enough to have sex, let alone with someone that much older. You can't give consent. You don't know what you're doing."

Derek was... really angry about this. She could hear his heart, see the flush of rage spreading across his skin. She wanted to ask _what's really happening here?_ But Derek was still ranting. 

"I can't even believe you, did you even think, we've only been in this shitty town for _three weeks_ , how long have you even known her? What? One pretty smile and you just get it out? Bet you're stupid enough to think you _love_ her, or you want to--"

"Derek!" Laura's eyes flashed. "That's enough."

Derek was a ball of rage in the corner, but she ignored him in favor of Stiles, who had curled more tightly into her side. She wrapped an arm around him. "Do you want to tell me what happened, kiddo? Pretty eventful day for you, yeah?"

Stiles hid his face into her side. Laura rubbed her hand soothingly up and down his back until he drew a breath and started speaking in a small voice. 

"It was-- she's the g-girl from the library, you know the one? With the pretty blonde h--hair?" Stiles sniffled. "She knows all about graphic novels; she recommended me _Jack of Fables_ which I'd never even thought of reading and it's amazing, there's this--"

Laura nudged him. "Come on Stiles, back on track."

He stopped and she saw a small smile, thank god, so he wasn't that badly upset. Okay, this was probably something Derek had just made worse; she could deal with that.

Stiles wiped his tears with the crook of his elbow. "I just-- we'd been hanging out, you know? While she worked, talking about comics and stuff, and then her parents are out of town, and she only had a morning shift. So we went back to hers to hang out. She had the new Jack of Fables and I hadn't... I didn't even get to read it. Huh."

Laura rolled her eyes. Honestly, sometimes she seriously worried about Stiles. He'd actually been lured to someone's house by a pretty smile and comics. He wasn't a ten year old, not any more, and this most definitely was not an afterschool special. She could see why Derek was annoyed, but upsetting him wasn't going to teach him anything except _not to tell them_.

Derek got up before either of them could say anything and stormed out of the room. 

Stiles stared out after Derek. 

"Don't worry, kiddo. He's just worried about you; go on." 

"I was-- I don't know, she asked if I thought she was pretty, and you saw her, right, Laura? She's fucking beautiful. And then, she asks if I've ever, you know, and then, I don't know, we were on her bed and I just..." Stiles hid his head in Laura's side again.

"This is horrifically embarrassing, do I really have to tell this story? This is like, you guys, I—okay, I get it, I did bad and seriously, no one has ever had a more horrifically horrifying day than this."

But Laura figured a tiny bit of lecturing and a bit more embarrassment for Stiles was most definitely in store.

"You guys were safe, yes? You don't want to end up with some nasty disease, or with a girl pregnant. There are a lot of things you can catch and--"

There was a muffled _Oh god kill me now_ from Laura's side.

Laura pulled Stiles away from her side so she could face him and look him in the eye. His entire face was bright red and he was trying to bury his face in his hands. Laura pulled them away from his face and held them in her own.

"Come on, you did it, you get the talk, which I _thought_ Derek had given you. So, safe?"

Stiles nodded and tried to look anywhere but Laura's face. "Yeah, con-condoms." He stumbled over the word.

He was turning redder by the second, if this was even possible; the blush had spread right down his neck.

"Good. And she didn't make you do anything you didn't want to, did she?"

Stiles shook his head, "No, I... wanted all of it. I just. Yeah. I wanted it. I mean, it was over so quick and I mean-- she didn't even-- but I did-- and then she-- Oh god it was so horrible and awkward."

Laura reached over to pull Stiles back next to her. "It's okay, kiddo, everyone's first time is a little bit shit, and if anyone tells you any different they're probably lying. Just, you know, next time maybe give it a bit of thought before you rush in there? Don't just drop your jeans at the first pretty girl that asks. Or boy. We're fine if it's a boy instead. Just-- be sensible, Stiles, and don't be afraid to ask one of us if you need something or if you've got any questions, or anything. We're here for you."

Stiles ducked his head and leaned in to butt his head against Laura's arm and mumbled his thanks.

Okay, one problem handled. That only left... she looked over at the empty chair Derek had been sitting in. The smell of fear and anger still lingered. What had Derek been afraid of? What had scared him so badly that he'd brought Stiles to tears? Laura sighed. When he came back they'd have to talk.

She caught Stiles watching her staring at the empty chair. 

"Do you think he hates me?" 

"Derek could never hate you. He's just loves you so much that he worries about you, and Derek's not very good at... emotions, and things." 

Stiles didn't look convinced but he nodded, holding on to her tighter. 

"Want to hear a funny story?" Laura tried to keep her tone light. "You know your library girl?" Stiles nodded. "Turns out she's got a sister-- pretty thing, we've been getting to know each other while we wait for you guys to finish in the library."

Stiles was staring at her now. "Are you serious? You slept with her sister? But she's like-- _so cool_. She's a college student, you know, and she had a date to go and see Gone with the Wind..." Stiles trailed off, his mouth hanging open, then he started flailing about and gesturing wildly. "You! You were her sister's date tonight? You were why the house was empty?!"

Laura nodded. "Yep, had a hot date, which ended badly when we got to her room and all I could smell was _you_ everywhere. All over the sheets. Seriously, Stiles."

He was blushing again. "Oh my _God_. I can't believe it."

They settled into silence, Laura letting the steady beat of Stiles's heart soothe her as she tried to think of ways to salvage her summer thing with MJ and deliberately not think about Derek. She was almost asleep when she heard the door open and Derek enter. 

In the dark of the room she could see him standing there, hair damp from the warm summer rain and recklessly hiding what she thought might be traces of tears. 

Silence hung between them for several moments until Derek whispered, "I'm sorry." 

"I know." 

He stood there awkwardly for a few moments, not making a move. 

"Come on, perfect time for a puppy pile. You know you want to mark the pair of us with your scent again; I can see it in your eyes. Go get changed and join us." 

He changed and then crawled onto the far side and curled up against Stiles's back, rubbing a careful hand over Stiles's buzzcut and dropping a kiss on Laura's brow. 

She waited until he was settled before quietly saying, "We're going to have to talk about it, you know."

She felt him nod his head slightly and tighten his hold on the pair of them. "Later?"

"Later."

*

"Dude, you're going to be so doomed once I'm a werewolf," Stiles teased as he jogged beside Derek. "I can almost keep up now and I'm just a human!" 

Derek glanced over at Stiles before taking off in a blur. 

"Hey!" Stiles called after him. "That's totally cheating! Like, if you can't appear human it doesn't count!" 

Stiles raced through the woods after Derek until he found him waiting for him in a clearing. He leaned against a tree, trying to catch his breath and glaring at an unaffected Derek. 

"Alright, fine, maybe I'm not quite up to werewolf standards yet. But it's only less than two years until Laura turns me!" 

Derek snorted. "Then you can smell all the horrific things I have to smell all the time." Derek gave him a pointed look. 

Stiles felt himself turn bright red, visible even over the flush from running. "Shut up," he said, trying not to look at Derek, trying not to focus on the slight bit of skin Derek was showing as he stretched. 

He bent over, faked being out of breath and tried to hide the fact that he was slowly but surely hardening. _Don't look at Derek, don't look at Derek_ , he repeated to himself. Stiles had come to one conclusion: puberty sucked. 

It was bad enough that he couldn't be sure his voice wasn't going to crack when he tried to say things, but he also kept getting distracted by _everyone_. Suddenly seeing Laura in her wifebeaters made him stop and look, because _boobs_ , how had he never noticed them before? He'd be trying to talk to someone at the store and just get utterly fixated on some stupid part of their body and then he'd end up hiding away with an awkward boner that just _wouldn't go_. 

"Stiles?" Derek questioned hesitantly. Because yeah, Derek was a werewolf and it was pointless trying to hide this from him. 

"Give me a minute." Stiles tried to will his erection away.

The internet said it was normal, the internet said it was fine, it was just... sleeping with Derek was getting kind of awkward because seriously, _Derek_. Stiles had never really looked at him before, but now he knew he wasn't supposed to look it just made him want to look more. Derek was twenty; he worked out like a motherfucker and holy hell it showed. He had all those stupid rippling muscles, and his jaw, _his jaw_. 

"Seriously, Stiles?" Derek asked incredulously. "We're in a fucking forest, what is there to look at?"

Stiles didn't dare glance up at him, because that'd just make it worse. "I'm a teenager, shit happens." 

"I don't remember being as bad as you when I was your age." 

"Whatever dude, I bet you so were." 

Derek huffed a sigh. 

See, the thing was, it wasn't just Derek's body. It wasn't just when he was wearing those ridiculously tight jeans or that wifebeater; it was when he was wearing his worn-out sheriff's department t-shirt and a pair of ratty boxers with mismatched socks on, or when he was lounging around the house in an old hoodie and a pair of sweats. Like, Derek _always_ looked good and it was fucking unfair. Even worse was the fact that Stiles had all these stupid feelings, he felt like Derek was _his_ , that he was the one who made Derek smile, he was the one Derek drew, he had all of Derek's attention. All the time. 

"Ready?" Derek asked impatiently. 

Stiles sighed and slid to the ground, back resting against the tree. He brought his knees up to rest his arms on them. "This kinda isn't going anywhere. Can we break for a bit?" Puberty was mortifying. 

Derek didn't say anything but came to sit down next to Stiles. "It's normal, you know." 

Stiles let his head rest on his arms and turned to look at Derek. "It kinda sucks." 

"It'll pass." Derek was trying to be reassuring, Stiles got that. 

Easy enough for Derek to say; Stiles didn't get how the hell Derek managed to not want to spend his life jerking off. Like, how did anyone cope without just, you know, at least some of the time. Because Derek _never_ seemed to do anything any of the time. He'd known him for over four years now, since Derek was sixteen and he'd never seen... anything. 

Like, Derek wasn't a genius, and he wasn't the sneakiest person in the world, so Stiles was pretty sure if he was, he'd know about it. Laura met people and did things, but not Derek. All Derek ever did was work, draw, and spend time with Stiles. That wasn't normal, right?

"How come you never, y'know?" Stiles asked, gesturing at his own crotch. 

Derek looked away and fell silent. 

"Shit, sorry. I didn't--" Stiles cut off, he had no idea what to say. Stiles still did shit like this all the time-- asked about the fire without meaning to. At least he was getting better at knowing what stopped Derek sinking further into quietness after Stiles asked something that hurt.

"I can't think of something to get you for your birthday," he said after a moment. 

Derek turned back to face him. "I told you. You don't need to get me anything." 

Stiles smiled tentatively at him. It was an ongoing discussion between them. "And I told you I want to. It's your birthday Derek; everyone deserves presents."

Derek's response was so quiet Stiles almost didn't catch it. "I don't."

He frowned and whacked Derek on the arm. "Dude, you totally do. I was thinking some sort of art supplies? Because they're always useful, right? Not something stupid and ornamental we'll have to dump the next time we move."

"Stiles, you really don't have to..." 

"I want to. Now tell me or you're going to get more water colors and I know you never use the ones you've got." 

Derek sighed, but it was more exasperated than sad. The sigh of Stiles finally winning! "Fine. I'd really like some oil pastels."

"Aha, awesome!" Stiles grinned and pushed himself to his feet. 

Derek followed a second behind him, eyeing Stiles dubiously. "I don't want any more neon art supplies, Stiles..." he warned.

"Would I ever..." 

"You got me neon coloring pencils for Christmas!"

"Dude, they were amazing!"

Derek snorted. "They're not really my palette." 

"Maybe you should draw brighter things." Stiles smiled kindly. 

Derek was quiet for a moment. "Ready to finish our run?" 

"Yeah, and I'm totally going to beat you this time! And maybe to celebrate, you can draw something with your amazing neon pencils, like a self-portrait!" Stiles called, taking off before Derek could respond. 

Stiles would win. He had to, because Derek would look _amazing_ in neon. 

*

When Derek got home from work and found Laura there with Chinese take-out he knew he wouldn't like whatever was about to happen. She said they'd talk later. He thought he might be able to turn 'later' into 'never', but apparently not. 

"Hey Derek, come have a seat." She gestured at their small kitchen table where the food was laid out. 

Derek wanted to run, to put as much distance between himself and Laura, because he couldn't see how this conversation ended without his sister hating him. He'd never be able to forgive himself so he can't see why she should. 

"Do we have to do this?" Derek asked, sinking into one of the rickety chairs. 

Laura nodded. "I've let this go on too long. I'm your alpha, I'm your sister. We're family, Derek, and god knows neither of us have much of that left these days. I thought maybe whatever it was you'd work through it, or you'd come to me on your own and tell me. I'm worried we're going to lose you if you don't talk about it."

Derek couldn't bear to look at her. He dropped his head and started fiddling with the chopsticks. It was almost like a joke-- how could he tell her? If he told her, he would _definitely_ lose her. 

Laura sighed. "Do you want some chicken lo-mein?" 

When he didn't answer, she tipped some onto his plate, then did the same for each dish.

She started eating but he couldn't stomach the thought of even trying; instead he picked listlessly at his food, pushing it around his plate to make it look like some had gone. 

They sat in quiet for several minutes except for the sounds of Laura eating.

"Where's Stiles?" Derek hid a piece of chicken under some noodles. 

Laura took a pull on her beer before answering. "He's making eyes at the waitress in the cafe on Main."

Derek frowned. "She's old enough to be his mom." 

"And she knows it. He's fine; I told him he could grab dinner there and to call us when he needs a ride home, or the waitress will drop him off. Don't try and distract me." 

Except he needed to, because there was no way he could do this. He didn't want to lose her too. He didn't want to see the look in her eyes when she realizes exactly what level of hell is reserved for someone like him. He doesn't want to see the hate in her eyes, can't bear to see her face when she realizes he killed their parents, their little sister, their cousins, their... 

"Breathe, Derek. Breathe." Laura's arm was around him and she was holding him tight. "Come on, in and out." 

He held on tight to her; he couldn't let go, he couldn't, because she was going to know, and if he doesn't let go she can't ever leave him, and she... "Stay..."

"I'm not going anywhere, Derek. In.... You hear me? Nothing you can say-- Out-- will make me go away." 

Derek tried to listen to her, but he just couldn't stop the gnawing feeling in his chest, the choking pain running up the back of his throat that said, you're going to lose her, you're going to lose him, they're going to hate you for the monster you are, you don't even deserve to-- 

"Derek. Calm. Down." Laura sounded like his mom, when he and Laura would squabble and argue, and the only way she could separate them was to use her alpha voice. It made him want to obey, it made him want to... it made him want his mom. Suddenly everything was worse because he couldn’t have his mom because _he killed her_.

"Fuck, Derek. I just-- shit, okay, same as Stiles then." Laura moved to let go of him and he clung on tighter. 

"Don't go, please. Laura, just don't--" He could taste salt-- shit-- tears, he was crying. 

"Shh, I told you I won't, I was going to move us to the bed. Come on, up for me." 

It wasn't easy and once they're there, Derek clung on tight to his sister, hiding his face from her but letting her pet his hair. By the time his heart stopped trying to beat out of his chest he was curled up against Laura with a sense of desperation and vulnerability he hadn't given in to since just after the fire. 

He was so worn out, so physically exhausted that he just wanted to tell her and be done with it. Hiding it and letting it fester was so exhausting; he couldn't do it any more. More importantly, Laura deserved to know what kind of monster she loves. He didn’t want to be anything like Kate Argent, leading someone along by concealing who they were. 

"I was... " his voice was muffled by Laura's side. Her hand stilled where it was scratching through his hair. 

"We don't have to do this now," she said, softly. "We can just stay like this."

He hesitated. "You deserve to know."

Her hand resumed its movement. "So tell me." 

Derek leaned into her touch, letting himself have one last moment with Laura, one last moment of being held by someone who still loved him. 

He took a breath and let it out slowly, taking in the smell of home, the smell of Laura, and of Stile; his pack. "I killed them." 

Laura was utterly still and when she spoke her voice was careful, measured. "Derek... Who did you kill?"

He closed his eyes. "Mom, dad, Daniel, Sally, Aiden, Ella, Elizabeth... Our pack. I did it." 

He felt the surge of emotions through their bond, more than he could decipher. He felt Laura slam down on them and clutched his head at the sharp pain. 

"Derek, you _couldn't_ have. You _couldn't_ have; you were at school. Derek. Derek, you're not making sense." 

It was eerie how calm he was. He'd built himself up to this moment and now it was coming out, now he was actually telling Laura he felt... numb. It was numb, not calm. "I told Kate all about us. I complained about the stupid party and how I had to attend; I told her about the basement and how we used to play down there. I told her..." 

Laura's hand was digging into his scalp; gone were the gentle fingers that had been so reassuring and in their place was pain. Nothing more than Derek deserved. 

"Kate who? Why would you..." Laura trailed off and he could almost hear the pieces clicking into place. 

He tensed, ready for whatever else she was going to do to him. 

"You were... with... Kate Argent?"

Derek nodded. 

"When--" Laura paused. "When did it start?" He could hear the barely contained rage in her voice. She hated him. Of course she did; he could feel his stomach dropping. There had been one tiny little part of him that had held out some kind of deluded hope that she'd tell him it wasn't his fault, that he hadn't done anything wrong. But of course he had. 

"The summer before. She was the lifeguard at the pool." 

What he wasn't expecting was Laura to pull him away from her and hold him at arm’s length. He didn't fight her; he didn't even curl in to protect himself. 

"You were fifteen that summer, Derek. _Just_." 

He nodded, eyes downcast. 

"She was... she was interested in me. I thought she liked me..." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I thought she was my mate."

"You didn't know she was an Argent..." Realization in her voice. 

"I thought she loved me."

"Did she-- Derek, look at me." He didn't move. He couldn't bring himself to. "Derek, _look at me_."

He slowly raised his eyes and saw the fury on Laura's face, the rage. "Did she tell you what she was going to do? Did you _know_ she was going to set the fire."

Derek balked. "Of course not! But I should have realized. Of course she was just using me, and I was so stupid that I got them killed. Laura, it's my fault, I killed--" 

He didn't get to finish because Laura pulled him against her. He braced himself for pain but none came. Instead there were his sister's warm arms around him, pulling him to her chest. 

"Laura, please, Laura I didn't-- I know I don't deserve anything, but just-- I don't want Stiles to-- please, if you-- he'll be all alone. You have to look after him." He was sobbing into her chest, waiting for whatever she was going to do to him. 

All he could think about was Stiles, how he’d be someone else taken from him, but it was probably for the best, but it hurt. It hurt thinking about Stiles without him. Laura would look after him; she wouldn't have anyone else, she'd have to-- 

"Shh, Derek, Derek you... this isn't your fault." 

"Please look after Stiles." 

"Derek, shh, come on, what do you think I'm going to do?" Laura didn't let go of him, but the hold relaxed to something less suffocating. 

"You should hate me, you should want me gone," Derek answered quietly. 

Her hand started stroking down his back. "You were stupid, you were-- you _are_ a kid, and someone took advantage of you. It isn't your fault, Derek." 

"They died, Laura. Everyone died." He thought the smell of her was the only thing stopping him from drowning right now. 

"I know, Derek. But you weren't responsible for it. You're just as much of a victim as they were, understand?" 

He was quiet. This isn't-- He didn't understand what Laura was saying. How could she not see that without him Kate would have failed? 

"Without me she wouldn't have done it; without me she wouldn't have been able to." 

Laura sighed quietly. "Derek, someone who's willing to sleep with a fifteen-year-old to get what they need would have found some other way. You probably weren't even the first way she'd tried." 

They laid there quietly for several moments, nothing but the hitching sound of Derek's breaths filling up the room. 

Finally Derek broke it. "Stiles would have liked Aiden. They would have driven mom mad." 

"Mom would have loved Stiles. He's smart and clever and he's got a mouth on him. I would give anything to see her try and deal with him." 

"I miss them."

Laura nodded, her cheek rubbing against the crown of his head as she did. "Every day." 

"Where are we going, Laura? What are we doing?" 

"I don't know, Derek." She sounded so tired as she said it, almost as weary as Derek felt. 

"I'm not sure how much longer we can keep running, how much longer Stiles can." 

"I know. I'll think of something, I promise. I'm the alpha." 

Derek finally brought his arms up to wrap around his sister, because sometimes he forgot that she needed to be held, to be reassured. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever became the alpha, but he knew right then that it was something that he would never want. 

*

Stiles opened the door carefully. The room was dark and quiet but both Laura and Derek should have been home. His heart beat faster in his chest as he walked into the room; even in the dark he could see the outline of Derek in the bed. He paused for a moment-- yeah, he can see the soft rise and fall of Derek's chest, which meant he was still asleep. 

He climbed onto the bed, kneeling next to Derek and frowning down when it didn’t wake him up. "Derek?" He shook him a little. 

Bleary eyes opened and stared over at him. "Stiles?" Derek sounded sleepy and confused. 

"Where's Laura?" Stiles could see the moment Derek really woke up because he fucking _panicked_. 

"She said it didn't matter, she said--" As Derek scrabbled around the sheets Stiles could see he was still fully clothed, sitting up in bed. 

"Derek! What's wrong? Why don't we just call Laura? Maybe she's just gone out to get--" 

Derek grabbed hold of him, hands grabbing Stiles's arms tight enough that it hurt a little. "You don't understand, I told her the fire was my fault and now she's _gone_." 

He couldn't have heard Derek right, because he just said-- "Derek..." He knew he sounded afraid, but Derek was scaring him right now. Derek was out of the bed and pulling on his shoes. "Derek!" He flicked on the light and shouted again. "What are you saying? Derek! Stop! Derek!"

"Stiles... " 

Now that Stiles could actually see him he looked wrecked. His eyes were red and puffy and there were impressions from the sheets on his face. Stiles walked over and threw his arms around Derek. 

It took a few seconds but Derek's hand came up and pulled Stiles tight against him. 

"I don't understand, Derek, but I can't think of anything you could do that would make me hate you." Before he knew it, Stiles was being held tighter. 

Slowly the story came out-- Derek told Stiles about Kate, about the fire, talking it through with Laura and falling asleep in her arms. "And now she's gone." 

They were curled up in the bed by the time Derek finished telling the story. Part of Stiles knew he was too old for this, that he shouldn't find his... brother? No, that didn't sound right. Derek was so much more than just Stiles's brother. There was something that felt right lying with Derek in the bed. 

"I think we should call Laura," Stiles said. They were lying now shoulder to shoulder, with Derek's arm thrown around Stiles. "Maybe she just went out to get dinner or something." 

Before Derek could answer, Stiles pulled out his phone and hit call. She picked up on the second ring. _”Stiles?”_

"Hey Laura, hang on, lemme just put it on speaker." He rested the phone on top of his chest when he was done. "Where are you?"

_”I've got something I need to do. There's a note on the side. I'm heading into New York, but I should be back before tomorrow evening.”_

Stiles frowned over at Derek and mouthed, 'New York'? Derek shrugged. 

"What's in New York?" 

_”There's a werewolf uncle Peter used to know. I just need to talk to him about something.”_

Derek's voice cracked a little as he spoke. "Is this about... what I told you?"

The line was quiet for a moment; all Stiles could hear was the whoosh of other cars passing Laura. _”A little. It's something I should have done a long time ago. I don't want to get your hopes up in case this doesn't work, but I'll definitely be back tomorrow and you can call me whenever you want, okay?”_

"Okay..." Worry twisted in Stiles's gut, making him feel nauseated. 

_”It'll be fine, boys. Look after each other and I'll be back before you know it. I can even text every hour if you want...”_

"No, it's okay, we'll-- yeah, we'll be fine." Derek answered because Stiles was still staring down at the phone on his chest like Laura's going off to her death. 

Once they hung up it was Derek who spoke first, because Stiles was still staring at the phone. What if-- he never said goodbye, and Laura's going to _New York_ , and-- 

"Stiles, come on. We'll get take-out. What do you want?" 

He tried to shake himself out of it. There was no point worrying; Laura would be fine. She _had_ to be fine, no universe could be that cruel. 

*

Parking her car in New York was a bitch, once she did make her way to the Madden address. Shit, maybe she should have called ahead? This probably wasn't the best way to go about this. 

She found the small apartment block and could smell the 'wolf acting as doorman before she even crossed the road. 

 

The kid, with his buzzed blond hair, barely looked old enough to have a job. He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Is she expecting you? Cause if she's not there's no way I'm letting you in, not even if you are that beautiful." 

Laura resisted the urge to punch him. "I..." Shit, Laura should have planned this out. She'd just been there, holding her sleeping brother and knowing she needed to do something to make sure he was safe. She had to make sure that he could finish growing up in peace, because for all that he was eighteen, he hadn't really grown much from the kid she had to hold back from the smoldering remains of their house. 

The kid cocked his head to the side and she'd seen that expression as she'd bossed Derek about before. Laura hadn't meant to listen but she found herself catching the end before she stopped herself. "...her in, Connor." 

"Alpha Madden is in the penthouse, elevator on the left." He stepped back to let her pass, obviously irritated at being overruled. 

She smirked back at him as she reached the door. "Thanks, Connor." 

The elevator felt like the slowest one in the world, and the smells she passed on the way up were... She knew, theoretically, that the Madden pack was big-- one of the biggest in New York. Laura also knew a lot of them lived together, or at least kept an apartment here, but nothing prepared her for the feel of it, for seeing it with her own eyes. She could hear a few people waking up as the elevator passed their floor. With longing she thought of her own pack; they could have been like this, they could have... 

The elevator doors opened and she stepped out into a reception room with hardwood floors. There was a grouping of sofas and armchairs to the left of the lift and Laura saw who she assumed was Sophia Madden, alpha of the Madden pack. She dropped her gaze out of respect as she moved to stand before the elegant, older woman. 

"Alpha Madden," Laura greeted her. 

"Hm, and what do I see? Alpha Hale, I think." Laura could hear the sound of the other woman rising and moving towards her. "I'm sorry for your loss, child." 

Laura nodded and looked up into eyes that were far kinder than she expected. "And yours. Everyone loved Auntie Cathy dearly." 

"As they should. She was far too nice a girl to have married your _charming_ uncle." Out of all the things that made Laura snort with laughter, it was how Peter made 'friends' everywhere he went. 

"Uncle Peter is certainly... unique," Laura agreed, and followed Sophia's gesture to take a seat on the settee opposite her. 

"Is? He still lives?" 

"Barely. He's catatonic; we couldn't take him with us." Laura picked at a loose thread on her jeans, looking anywhere but at Sophia. She knew the disapproval she would see there. Wolves never leave an injured pack member behind; they take care of them. 

"Sometimes you have to make difficult choices and choose to save the pack over one member." 

Laura looked back up sharply. "I... yes." 

"I assume this is why you're here at this late hour?" Sophia took a sip from her now cooled drink-- tea, Laura guessed from the smell. "How many of you survived?" 

"Just me and Derek. I'm not sure if you remember him; he was the boy between Aiden and Elisabeth. I think he spent most of the wedding hiding in the house reading a book." 

A small smile passed over Sophia's face. "Oh, I remember the sullen, quiet one. Has he grown into those eyebrows yet?" 

Laura smiled back. "Almost, maybe a few more years. They're very big." 

"That they are."

She wasn't sure how to ask for what she needed, because she wasn't exactly sure what it was. There was no way she could raise the boys properly if they kept running-- Alphas weren't supposed to throw themselves on the mercy of another pack, and Laura most definitely didn't want to be part of the Madden pack-- she'd been in New York for only a couple of hours and already she hated the smoggy smell of the city. "I need help."

Sophia nodded. "I'd imagine you do."

Laura took a breath and started pouring out their story. When it was done any kindness in Sophia's expression was gone.

"That you're still alive is a miracle," she scolded. 

Laura couldn't disagree. 

"You can't keep running. At least you've had the mother-wit to realize that now. I'll need to meet the boys before I make any decisions, especially the human. How could you be so reckless as to kidnap a child?" 

That was the one decision that Laura wouldn't take back. "You didn't see him; he had no one else, and once he met Derek they... they bonded, the pair of them. I wouldn't even dare to separate them now; they're more than family." 

"Hmm. Bring them here the day after tomorrow. I'll need to speak with them briefly, and forgive me for saying so, but I need to check out your story. Your mother was a great friend of mine, almost like a daughter to me, but you? I've not met you properly before, Alpha Hale, not as an alpha, and if I'm to give you sanctuary I need to make sure I'm not going to bring trouble to my pack."

Laura nodded. "I understand and-- thank you, Alpha Madden, for even considering it. I'll see you on Sunday.

The ride back down to the entrance way was a lot quicker, and when she passed him, Connor just gave her a sympathetic look. She ignored him; werewolves were far too nosy for their own good. She hunched her shoulders and began the long walk back to her car. Now all she had to do was tell the boys.

*

The drive to New York was quiet this ungodly hour of the morning. His mom had gone to college in the city, NYU, where she'd met his dad on vacation. She'd always talked about taking Stiles there one day, and then the cancer had gotten her and that was that. He pulled his hoodie closer around him and slunk down in his seat. 

"So is this some kind of test?" he asked, knees smacking against Derek's chair. 

"Stop kicking my seat." 

"It wasn't on purpose!" Okay, so fine, he wasn't in the best mood; the trip to New York had him edgy. "My legs are too long to sit in the back." 

"When you can drive you can sit in the front. Why don't you go and sit behind Laura? Her seat's further forward." 

"Because I want to sit here." Stiles shuffled his knees around and knocked Derek's seat a few more times. 

"I swear to God, Stiles!" Derek tried to blindly swat behind him, but Stiles easily dodged out of his way.

"Boys! Derek, keep your eyes on the road! We might survive a crash but Stiles most definitely won't." 

Great, remind him how fucking fragile he is. 

"And Stiles, don't be a brat-- switch sides. There's tons more room behind my seat." 

There was nothing but the sound of the road for several minutes and Stiles stared out of his window at the gray sky and endless passing cars. He wasn't even angry with Derek, he was just-- edgy, and so was Derek. Neither of them had ever been anywhere as big as New York, and Stiles had never met any other werewolves before. What if they decided he wasn't worth keeping? That they just wanted Laura and Derek? 

"It's not a test, Stiles," Laura finally answered. "She just wants to meet you, to make sure we're not going to be a threat to her pack before-- well, before she makes her decision."

"What happens if she says we can't stay?" Stiles shifted and knocked Derek's seat again. He looked up to catch the glare Derek was throwing him in the rearview mirror. "Sorry," he muttered. 

"Then we'll try somewhere else." 

Derek sighed. "I don't see why we need another pack, or why we need other 'wolves. Why can't we just find our--" 

Laura and Derek had been almost-arguing it since Laura had returned from New York with the news. "We've been over this, Derek. I'm not powerful enough to start a pack, We've got no land. We need a few year to regroup, to grow up, to get jobs and get ready."

"I don't get it-- get ready for what?!"

"I don't know! That's the point! We need to be ready for _anything_. One day we'll have a big pack, and a piece of land to call ours. One day we'll be so established that if anyone even tries to hurt us they won't stand a chance, but we're not there yet. We've got to work toward that."

Stiles tried to remember what he could of the Hale family. He remembered his dad talking about Talia Hale, seeing different cousins around the school, bumping into them in town. Everyone knew the Hales; he didn't see how the three of them could ever get more prepared than they were, but he didn't say anything. 

"You asked me to stop running, Derek?" For a moment he could hear the vulnerability in Laura's voice; he was so unused to hearing it that it made him feel like a kid again. "This is the only way I can think of for us to do that." 

They didn't speak until Laura started directing Derek towards the parking garage. 

*

Derek didn't understand how the hell someone has enough money to waste that they could literally put fabric with gold on the walls. He was interrupted from his frowning by an elbow in the side from Stiles. 

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" he whispered. 

Derek answered in his normal voice. "They can hear you-- werewolves." 

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I know, but they've been in there for ages and I just wondered if we--" 

"Laura said to wait quietly, so we're going to wait quietly." 

That stopped Stiles's questions for a moment, but only for a moment. 

"How long do you think they're going to be in there?" 

"As long as it takes." 

"Do you think I can play games on my phone, or is that disrespectful?" 

"It's probably disrespectful."

"What happens if--"

"Stiles, please. I know it's been hours and your Adderall's probably wearing off, but..." Derek took a deep breath, thinking about ways to keep Stiles focused when he needed it. He bent down to his bag, doing so slowly because he honest to god felt like a prisoner with the two 'wolves at the end of corridor watching him. 

He pulled out his sketchbook and ripped out a page, handing it over to Stiles. "C'mon, you keep asking me to show you how to draw, now's as good a time as any." He handed Stiles the neon penciles along with another book from his bag so he could balance the page against it. 

"Oh hey, you've got the pencils with you!" Stiles rifled through them and picked out a lurid green. 

Derek smiled. "Okay so, we start with a rough sketch-- no, lighter, you need to hold your pencil lighter..."

*

Someone dropped a pile of papers in front of Laura. "Your bank accounts are a mess! It looks like you're dead, you've got three accounts under different false names, and--" 

"Callum, calm down," Sophia called from her seat. 

"But mother, the way they've been living is _irresponsible_ , and it's not even the start of their problems. Kidnapping! Transporting a minor across state lines! Not to mention the amount of things we haven't managed to find."

"I'll admit, Stiles is a... problem. But between yourself and Maggie, surely not too much of one to sort?" 

"He's only fifteen years old, what can I sort out here? He's too young to be emancipated, we certainly can't return him, there's no way we could get an adoption sorted with _you_ as a guardian--" 

Callum ran a hand over his face. 

"Mom, this is a terrible idea," he repeated. "We don't even know if they've brought hunters with them; someone obviously wanted them dead if they burned their house to the ground. How do we know they didn't bring it upon themselves?"

Laura felt her ire flash at that, but didn't rise to defend herself. She had to prove she could keep calm, that she could manage herself. 

There were a selection of the more senior members of the Madden pack gathered around the study. Laura thought she recognized several of them from Peter and Cathy's wedding, and a few more bore the distinctive blond hair and sharp features of the Maddens. 

Sophia spoke. "Noted. Louise? What did you find out? Have there been any hunters sighted? Is anyone we know of looking for them?"

Louise looked a little like a fairy; she was slight of frame with blinding white teeth, but she was wearing a smart business suit and-- yeah, Laura was smart enough to a tiny bit afraid of her. 

"From what I can tell no one is looking. The only sighting I can confirm is the hunter they ran into in Franklin." 

Sophia nodded. "And the fire?"

"No one is admitting to starting it. I'd give it a few more days, but as far as I can tell there should be minimal trouble, nothing more than the same crap we normally face." 

"Mom, you can't be thinking--" Callum protested. 

"Be quiet, Callum." 

"We can't have another alpha on our territory. How do you know they're not just here to challenge you? Try and take over from within." 

"I hardly think they would have burned down their own house and aimlessly wandered towards us just to take over. You've seen their finances; do they really look like masterminds?" 

Callum spluttered. "No, but..." 

Sophia's eyes softened. "I miss Cathy too, but she wanted to marry Peter Hale, and nothing we said was going to change her mind. Don't blame his niece for stealing your sister away, and don't blame her for the fire; she lost far more than we did when that house burned." 

"What if they bring their trouble with them? We can't put the pack at risk, the family." 

"He's right, mom, I feel like we're rushing this decision," the youngest member of the room agreed, the only person with dark hair besides Laura herself.

"Thank you, Ian," Callum said. He sounded almost surprised that Ian had agreed with him.

"The Hales were isolated out there in Northern California; they were an old but small pack. We are not. Nothing like that could happen to us." Sophia was calm in the face of her son's anger. 

"That's arrogance! Arrogance always comes before a fall; you're letting your love for Talia's daughter get in the way of reason."

"Callum, listen to your alpha!" Laura swung to face the speaker, a very elderly woman who had been quietly knitting in the back of the room. 

The woman threw down her knitting, which... did knitting normally have that many holes? 

Catching Laura's gaze the old woman smiled. "I don't know why I even bother. I started when I had my first grandchild; apparently it's something old people do, but you know, I've never been any good at it. One day, I'll make something for one of the kids, something they might actually be _able_ to wear, whether they like it or not." 

Laura didn't remember her from the wedding but she was obviously family; the same blue-green eyes as Sophia looked up at her. 

"Can you give an old lady a hand?" 

The woman stood with barely any help from Laura, and once up she moved towards Callum. "Do you know why you're here?"

Callum frowned. "Because mother wanted to talk about giving protection to the strays from the Hale pack."

The old woman hit him with her knitting, sending a ball of wool flying across the room. "That wasn't what I asked."

"Nana, what are you doing?" Louise picked up the ball of wool and handed it back to Nana Madden.

"Many, many years ago your grandpa and I found ourselves chased by hunters for a crime we didn't commit."

Ian rolled his eyes. "We all know this story nana. Hunters, you and grandpa eventually outsmart them, you decide you've had enough of forests and move to the city, etc, etc. You tell it all the time." 

Nana threw her other ball of wool at him and hit him in the head. "If you don't learn some manners I'm going to have to teach you some." She smiled and showed all of her teeth; it was... unsettling. 

"We beat the hunters, but _barely_. We weren't healing, your grandpa couldn't see and we found ourselves on the doorstep of Charlie Hale. He could have turned us away. He _should_ have turned us away that night. We had a group of insane hunters out for our blood and nothing but our word that they were dealt with. We wouldn't have survived a night out in the open, but we didn't have to, because he showed us compassion and let us in. He helped us until we _could_ make the move to New York."

Laura had never heard this version of the story in her life, and from the looks on the faces around the room she guessed most of the others hadn't either. 

"They showed us compassion and now we're going to return the favor." The old woman turned her glare on Sophia. "You can't let them leave here."

"Mom--"

"No buts; we owe their family as you well know."

"If I could just finish-- I was trying to say that _yes_ , they can stay." Laura felt a weight lift as Sophia spoke. "But there will have to be some... caveats."

Laura nodded warily. "What are they?"

Sophia smiled and it made Laura feel uneasy. "Oh, nothing too drastic. Let me speak with my pack and we'll get back to you. For tonight, go and see Connor; he should be able to find an empty apartment for you until we find something a little more permanent. That's caveat number one, by the way: you need a space of your own, land to call yours. You're going to buy an apartment."

Before Laura could protest that they didn't have the money, Sophia beat her to it. 

"Don't try that; I've seen your finances. Buying an apartment won't even put a dent in them; you've got ten life insurance policies to live off, at the very least. The Hales weren't exactly poor even before the fire."

Laura didn't want to try and explain to the room full of people that they hadn't wanted to touch the money because of where it came from. They were at the point now where they needed the pack's protection far more than they needed to cling onto the money for sentimental reasons. 

“I'll take your silence as agreement, and see you in the morning. We have things to discuss.”

*

Derek looked up from his neon portrait of Stiles to see Laura exit the room. 

"Are they ready to see us?" he asked, putting his pencil down. 

"They don't want to." She let out a breath and for a moment Derek worried that was it, it was a no. "Except for a few details we've got to work out... we can stay."

Stiles whooped as Laura said it, earning him amused looks from the two 'wolves that had been watching over them. Derek wished he was as straight up relieved as Stiles, but he couldn't help but feel a little... unsettled. "What details?"

Laura wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I don't know, Derek. We find out tomorrow. For now, we get to sleep."

She walked them over to the blond wolf that was sprawled out over an armchair. 

"Connor, right?" 

He nodded. 

"Alpha Madden said you'd show us where to go." 

"'Course she did." He stood up, joints popping as he stretched. "Follow me."

As he led them through a winding complex of corridors Stiles bumped his shoulder into Derek's. "Why aren't you excited?" 

Derek shrugged. New York was big, New York smelled, there weren't enough forests, there were too many people, there wasn't... how was he supposed to keep Laura and Stiles safe here? The Madden pack made him nervous; all his memories of them were older 'cousins' running around and distracting him as he tried to read at Peter and Cathy's wedding. 

"Derek? What's wrong?" Stiles was too sensitive to his moods, so he tried to smile. 

"Nothing, just tired." Stiles didn't look like he believed him, but didn't look like he was going to argue. 

Laura was up ahead and Derek could already hear her flirting with Connor. Sometimes she didn't even realize she was doing it. Maybe Laura was just lonely too, maybe she was getting ready to embrace the new pack, to make new friends. 

He caught a glimpse out of a window as they walked to the apartment. It was nothing but gray concrete and buildings as far as the eye could see. So. New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next part is an outline, and the epilogue is written, but I've got two big bangs to finish (or at least draft) first, so give me a month or so, and I should be able to finish this.

**Author's Note:**

> [hiiiii there!](http://saspiesas.tumblr.com/)


End file.
